“I love St. Francis of Assisi as well as anybody in the world.” Desolation Angels

Once a sybarite youth and reveler
Dreams and visions and change of heart
Lepers and beggars fevered new start
Francis set to restore his Father’s house
He threw and flung church gold away
Bernardone beat and locked he stayed
Francis turned from father’s ways
And stood there humble, pure, and bare
He wed himself to poverty and fast as fare
To gain heaven nay palace but by hut everlasting
He preached and lived non-violence and reconciliation
Mysticism, holy vows, chasten, tonsured, unshaven
A poor and meek monk and brother
Lover of creatures, creation, and creator
Sought spiritual experiences and lofty visions
Contemplation and stigmata and the Christ in crucifixion
Compassion and forgiveness
Francis was a man of action
And taught by his deeds and sanctification

Related posts:

The Vagrant and American Literature
Exploring the link between vagrancy and the American identity.
Go... the Summer, Fall, and Winter of Discontent
The summer, the fall, and the winter of discontent, shovel after shovel of snow that turns...
“To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing” i
The title of the William Butler Yeats poem “To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing” ma...
The Beats and the Beatles: two sides of the same coin
“If two things are two sides of the same coin, they are very closely related although th...
Barry Gifford Interview
An interview with Barry Gifford about the Beat Generation.
Bloomsday Thoughts: Kerouac & Joyce
"In those days I was writing a Joyce-like novel in which I was the Dedalus; and called mys...