He let the flies land freely on his face
as if they were not there, or he were not,
then ate his porridge with a simple grace
without an urge to move, or move to swat,
and in the wild untouched and timeless wood
he’d made his home years back unto his youth
he spoke of ways that I—and all men—could
approach the substance of our deepest truth.
But I of stubborn old unbending ways
had settled fancies, and still loved them too,
so left his side, though filled with newfound praise
for things that monks and martyrs tend to do,
and back within the city, thought it quaint
that, swatting flies, I could not be a saint.
Ahimsa
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
“Inside the Vatican” host Colleen Dulle shares how her visit to Argentina gave her a deeper understanding into Francis’ emphasis on “being amongst the people” and his belief that “you can’t do theology behind a desk.”
Christians who have lived in Nagorno-Karabakh for 2,000 years are being driven out by Azerbaijan. Will world leaders act?
The problem is not that TikTok users feel disappointed about the potential loss of an entertaining social platform; it is that many young people see a ban on TikTok as the end of, or at least a major disruption to, their social life.
Two new Broadway productions cast these two towering figures in sharp relief.