The Monk’s Chair
I found this chair upstairs today
Missing it was and so tucked away
I didn’t know it was here to stay
Before my time, it had come
It’s countenance I’m looking for
A chair for the desk I adore
Paint splattered and cross wired more
Repaired it was than new and whole
For the room, I needed this chair
To write poems not stood on air
Wobbly, it’s stance I’d not care
Screwdriver here little twist there
Tightening up the old wrought screws
Flipped and there some curious news
A brief note from decades before
Scribbled chalk dated eighty-four
Someone had been there I could see
In a time and place far from me
All evidence pointed directly
Towards a soul from Friary
For there under cracked wood seat
A note not neat but note complete
The faded cursive script left no name
Just a brief message all the same
“Repaired
St Francis
Friary
April 1984
May the Loving Lord reveal
His forgiving face to thee”