by Christine Valters Paintner
The holy man wanders the forest,
in search of a place he can hear
pine needles drop, and seeds
crack open each spring.
A white boar, said to be
his muse, joins him,
calls forth songs and poems
daily from the hermit’s heart.
Does he find inspiration
in how the beast’s nostrils
steam with each breath
sending up clouds of longing?
Or the boar’s long tusks
which slice through thicket
and gleam like sunlight
pouring from its face?
Or how it roots
in underearth for hidden
things, bringing back gifts
as if they were jewels?
Or the way the boar’s fierce face
softens each time the monk places
a hand on its brow, wiry and coarse,
when others had always pulled back?
Christine Valters Paintner is a Benedictine oblate living in Galway, Ireland with her husband where they lead pilgrimages to sacred places. She is the author of twelve books of nonfiction on contemplative practice and the arts and her poems have been published in journals in the U.S. and Ireland including Tiferet, Anchor, Presence, Spiritus, and U.S. Catholic. Her first collection of poems, Dreaming of Stones, was published by Paraclete Press. You can find more of her writing and poetry at AbbeyoftheArts.com.