Consider the Pear

Largo pianissimo 

Per Cristo Gesu

From gnarled boughs,

Where sun, long months, has labored 

To endow, with firm,  

Pale ivory flesh,

There shiver, in the waning

Rays of afternoon, rich yellow pears, 

That hide their treasure 

Beneath a canopy of green,

Round which roll the heavens,

In their everlasting turn, 

Warm, honeyed daylight, 

Chill firmament of stars,

Consider the pear, 

Dehiscent, whose flowers, once 

Pollened by the suitor bees, 

Long failed, are now fulfilled,

Their fruit, yielding, falling, 

Waiting to be gathered, 

Pared, consumed, 

Pure feast of God’s immortal gift.

For Frérè Laurent Chapman O.S.B. 

August 25, 2005 

Sun Valley