August 9: A Poem, Keith Taylor, "A Monk's Rule"

Tonight, I want to leave my disciples with a poem from someone I met this week on my pilgrimage to Rudyard and Paradise, Michigan.  His name is Keith Taylor, and he's not only a great poet, but also a kind and gentle human being.  He was gracious and humble, despite the pile of books he's written/edited and awards he's won.

Saint Marty wants to be him when he grows up.

Here's a poem from his collection If the World Becomes So Bright:

A Monk's Rule

But for you, my love,
I would take a monk's rule.
Rise long before dawn,
have a simple breakfast
of unbuttered toast and milk.
One cup of coffee, black.
I would go upstairs,
sit with paper and pen,
and plumb the deepest reaches
of my mind or soul or self.
Evenings I would read
nothing but books written
in the first millennium.

The monk himself