-
Principles of Conversion
- Southern Illinois University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
69 Principles of Conversion How did I, a practicing ex-Catholic Of Sicilian indolence, son And lover of the sluggish South, Take on the disciplines of winter, And, as if born busy, one of the elect, Turn a puritan attention to The deeds of words, a strict Bricklaying of the language, heavy, Level at the edge, with Wings and stories rising from A mortgage paid down in hard installments? Or have I always housed this yankee haste? Even now, as a north wind Addles the air, the earth sown with snow, A monk’s straight talk still steadies me: Ora et Labora. I pray this work Stands high against the years, When all flesh falls back to salt and cinder. ...