Lawrence Hall
Vocations
“I consecrate you to a
great novitiate in the world.”
-Father Zosima to Alyosha
in The Brothers Karamazov
The monastery
gate opens easily
If it really needs
opening at all
The road outside
often leads somewhere else
But then it just
as often leads back again
The distance
measured by a crucifix
Where a weary
traveler can pray awhile
Or maybe Harry
Bailey’s hamburger joint
A cup of coffee
and a cigarette
Offered by a
pilgrim in the neon night
The monastery
gate opens easily
