an unholy search for god

to tip the scale to the soul

leaving the body behind,

we can slip into a black hole

with balance we cannot find.

there in a pit of loneliness

brotherly love becomes lost.

we become drowned in holiness

but at a terrible cost.

we have temporal lives to live

and eremites cannot know

the happiness which love can give

while our spirits can still grow.

the pain will only increase

for those wearing a cilice.

Walt Abbott–2-1-2010