John Samuel Tieman: Lauds

the Templar strolled the cloister
after the dawn office
the sky was a sort of orange
like he had seen in the East
something about the sun and dust
and the wind off the desert that made
the orange or so he’d been told
he hated the East
the wind from outside here carried
the laughter of girls and the whole world
much of which he had seen seemed
less important than his rosary’s mysteries
the Templar wondered if he could build
a little fountain for the brothers

he wondered if his sister would bring
anything with her visit this day
he hated her cakes which always cost
him a story but not a history but
a fiction of the east
say a lie about the cowardice of Saladin
something she wanted to hear
something her faith demanded she hear
instead of a real story like the day he first
read Averroes and his seven attributes of God
as for fear he feared the flu that was going around
he wondered if he could build a little fountain
he strolled the cloister in silence
the Templars had cloisters in those days