Retreat to Saint Leo Abbey
by Michael Angel Martín
When a long-loosened windshield
Wiper snaps off the bumperless Mazda
And gets snatched up into a night-storm
Erupting on the drive’s final stretch,
I don’t think I’ll make it. But I do,
Even if hours past compline. Inside
The guest house that squats on a lake
Named for an ancient pontiff, I plop
My duffel bag and greet the watchful
Canvas icons above the flower-print cot.
There’s a potency in the air, and not
Just rust and moss-rot, the effulgence
Of old Florida. But the prayer of those
Here before, fellow weekend believers.
Even the floorboards creak, interceding.
Previously published in The Worcester Review (Vol. 40, Numbers 1 & 2, 2019).
*Writing Prompt: In this time of quarantine, we are all in waiting and hoping for a collective sigh of relief. In the meantime, life continues unabated. How have you marked transitions afresh as a result of the pandemic? What rituals, habits, or routines have sustained you? Write about it.
Prayer
by Jonathan Blake
How to explain my wonder
The single engine of a small plane
The bright purple finch perched, still,
Keeping vigil as his stone gray mate
Warms the tiny world of her egg
The perfume of lilac in morning
Like a woman whispering in your ear
What it means to hear spring
The still shadow of the small jade
On the white wicker table
Signing the spirit of god
Into the perfect circle of darkness
One wasp moves into cool brick
No sadness in the gardens
The imperfect perfection of what sings
In the rows of furrowed shadows –
The newly tilled earth: line after wandering line
New basil standing up in the sun
The white hair of the ghost
Of my father working the garden
My mother’s strong hands tying the tomatoes
One crow gleams in the dead limbs
Of a tree close to the compost
What is divine and what is
Ordinary; what sings
And what is still
The slow red dance of geraniums
On the sunlit terrace a beautiful mystery
The bronze wings of the butterfly
Coming to rest on the worn
And weathered bannister
The crooked stairs that lead down
And into the garden
Previously published in The Worcester Review (Vol. 40, Numbers 1 & 2, 2019).
* Writing Prompt: Slow the world down. Attune all your senses. Fashion a catalogue of images into the gifts they are. Polish and illumine. Separate them so they shine on their own and as part of a greater whole. Experiment with order, music. Read them aloud. Fashion a few lines that explain their being, binds them. Create a title that does the same.
This issue of The Hard Work of Hope is produced in partnership with The Worcester Review.
Michael Angel Martín
Michael Angel Martín is a poet and book reviewer whose work has appeared in a number of magazines and journals. He lives with his family in Miami, Florida.
Jonathan Blake
Jonathan Blake has been following the gospel of his heart for as long as he can remember. Writer, educator, arts activist/organizer, he makes his home in central Massachusetts. Currently he teaches on the English department at Worcester State University, where for the past 12 years he has hosted a round robin open reading series open to students, faculty and staff and the greater Worcester County poetry community called ONE POEM. His poems and essays can be found in an array of journals and anthologies, including the Atlanta Review, Amoskeag, Brilliant Corners, Poetry East and The Worcester Review. On occasion, he has had the privilege of fashioning his public readings in collaboration with some of the fine jazz musicians who also call central Massachusetts home.