Rain drips steadily into water barrels,
Lulls out other sounds
Except distant bells from the abbey.
A log fire blazing,
Illuminates the cabin warmly.
The pop of burning cedar logs,
The blackness of the night:
A prayer—
You are just there,
Involved in all that,
Assenting in wordless amens.
Fragrance of fire.
Charity of logs…
…Charity of logs that consume themselves to warm the room."
This is part of a poem written by Allen De Loach appeared in a volume entitled “A Merton Concelebration”, the book consists of tributes from friends of the Cistercian monk Thomas Merton. It is a delightful poem full of beautiful thoughts and I love it. The main part of the above are the first few lines, finally I have included the very last line of the poem.
@wakelys the link is very flakey and I thinknthe book is out of print. I will remove the link. If you or anyone would like the full poem I could type it all out. Please let me know.