And Yet Another Francis Poem

Francis of Assisi Has a Word

And Francis looked at every book
I kept in bookshelves all around—
he turned in each direction, every
book becoming as a thread

within his robe, their wealth of words
unraveling in poverty
while Francis simply spoke one word—
that word gave heart—and every book

began to disappear like water
into wine and all remaining
in the room around me was
a wall of empty bookshelves and

the only understanding ever
worth our knowing, well beyond
the definition of those words,
and well beyond the reaches of this poem.

~Son Rivers 2008