Post #8.6, Thursday, May 14, 2020

Historical setting: A dark age in Gaul With God thought to be on a distant shore we light the watch-fires on the fortress towers. Maybe any passing pirates will see our torches and fires and the moored dromon and know that this is a night for rest not war. There is a serene darkness overContinue reading “Post #8.6, Thursday, May 14, 2020”

Post #8.5, Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Historical setting: A dark age along the channel off Gaul          We’re landing at Aletum near a rumored haven for pirates. Two of us are assigned the night watch, I, in my hemp tunic, and he in his leather gambeson, tunic of chain mail, fine plumed helmet, scarlet cloak, shield and a clean, sharpened broadsword.Continue reading “Post #8.5, Wednesday, May 13, 2020”

Post #8.4, Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Historical setting: A dark age along the Channel off Gaul          Seated as I am, the last rower of this facing, my forward view is of the shoulders of thirty-one other men all moving evenly in the dance tempo of the row.  Each man has his shield facing the sea above his oarlock, and onContinue reading “Post #8.4, Tuesday, May 12, 2020”

Post #8.3, Thursday, May 7, 2020

Historical setting: A dark age along the Saxony Shore of Gaul          It is the dance. “II, I, Pull,” over and again in 3/8 time, the Hora, it is without the full circle of the wedding. We’re all aligned facing back. “II, I, Pull, II, I, Pull,” shoulder-to-shoulder together in the drumbeat of the dance.Continue reading “Post #8.3, Thursday, May 7, 2020”

Post #8.2, Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Historical setting: A dark age in Gaul While I was off in quietude knitting odds and ends of the yarns of memory into some kind of fabric of facts or dreams, the good doctor was visiting the shipyard where the old hull of the dromon is being stitched back to purpose. He is reporting toContinue reading “Post #8.2, Wednesday, May 6, 2020”

Post #8.1, Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Historical setting: A dark age on the Saxony Shore of Gaul          God knows I’m thankful for glimpses into memory of a wife and for the gentle thoughts of touches — the warmth of earthly breath and fragrance — all these remembrances of love shared. I know earth’s metaphors speak a truth of so manyContinue reading “Post #8.1, Tuesday, May 5, 2020”

Post #7.14, Thursday, April 30, 2020

Historical setting: A dark age in Gaul Dear God, guide my feet, my heart, my remembering. Thank you for strength and healing. And thank you also for Dr. Neifus, though not understanding, at least he is respectful of my need for this solitude. Thank you for staying near.          I ponder the glimpses of memory.Continue reading “Post #7.14, Thursday, April 30, 2020”

Post #7.13, Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Historical setting: A dark age in Gaul, probably 462 C.E.          I beg the doctor. “Please let me go alone for my prayers.”          “Lazarus, my boy, you know the dangers of walking alone into the woods.”          “So you think Nantes has its woods filled with robbers wielding dead tree stalks for clubs, waitingContinue reading “Post #7.13, Wednesday, April 29, 2020”

Post #7.12, Tuesday, April 28,2020

Historical setting: A dark age in Gaul, some say 562 C.E. “I remember the Roman galley which I can see right now from this place where I sit on the harbor wall. And it is still hanging from the ropes for repairs.  I would guess my healing is coming better than the repairs of rotContinue reading “Post #7.12, Tuesday, April 28,2020”

Post #7.11, Thursday, April 23, 2020

Historical setting: 562 C.E. Gaul, but Lazarus is remembering Clovis in 495 “Why do I remember bits of times that make an argument with the kind doctor?  I want to refute these politics that Dr. Neifus doesn’t even think belong in this generation. I defend.          “That King, Clovis, has no respect for the faith.”Continue reading “Post #7.11, Thursday, April 23, 2020”