JF

John Forbis is an Anglican Benedictine monk of the Order of the Holy Cross living and working at Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, New York. His poems have been published in South Africa, United States and the United Kingdom.

Writings

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JF

Writings

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Following

Drowning the Story

1 min read

The light dims into the late winter afternoon. 4:38 pm. The bell for Vespers will ring in 12 minutes. So is this paragraph intense enough? He keeps writing and hoping that some kind of energy will be generated as more cursives and serifs get on the page as well as on his mind. Not even a quick flash of a thought—how much time do I have now — can he afford. Yet, the cloud of that question han...

Drama

Reflecting Back

1 min read

A former monk seconded my saying

I’m the most settled I’ve ever been.

He went on to say, So what’s

wrong with us? What’s going

to happen next?

I seconded that sentiment.

I make a statement,

hopeful, optimistic;

he seconds it.

He reveals the shadow

of our givens;

and I second that. At least,

we agree to both statements

or do we? Depends

which one wins out.

He moved on away

from monastic life

y...

Poetry

The Sun Ritual

1 min read

Magic is what happens when the sun rises.

This sunrise, I see mounting across the river,

hovers over a mansion that is only 200 years old.

A mansion where a family lived is now

vacant for thousands of other families to

inhabit vicariously. Flat stones at a bank

of the Hudson cool my bottom.

Flecks of a grey sky seem ready to peel

from clouds, thick as boulders; a hulling

light stretches candl...

Poetry

It was all becoming real.

1 min read

Do you believe

in God? Not the first

time I was asked that question

Not the second either;

“Do you believe in God?” Who wants

to know? (it never seems to be me)

I’m in the church.

I woke up early, brushed my teeth, took

a shower, threw the clothes I slept in in-

to a laundry hamper, and I am here

barely able to hold a breviary

in my velcro-braced hand

(a fall I took o...