vigil · leaf iv

Antiphon for the Hum

a small office for three in the morning  ·  sing softly  ·  the dog is asleep on the rug

A photocopied likeness of the inside of a refrigerator at three in the morning. A pale rectangle of light. Jars holding their breath. The cold coming out like a small congregation.
fig. i — the shelf · the bulb · the cold on bare feet
press the SPACE bar to chant the antiphon.
one tap is one bead. tap until amen.
  1. Blessed be the cold light when nothing else is on.
  2. Blessed be the door that opens without asking what for.
  3. Blessed be the half-jar of olives, holy in their brine.
  4. Blessed be the leftovers in waxed paper, doubly wrapped, signed in marker.
  5. Blessed be the compressor, beginning again, beginning again.
  6. Blessed be the seeker, barefoot on the linoleum.
  7. Amen, amen. The bulb is the bulb. The hum is the hum.
— beads counted : 0 of 7 —
▲   ▲   ▲

Still Being Built

Forgive us — this little office is unfinished. The third antiphon wants another verse, and we have not yet decided whether the ribbon should be ochre or forest, and the back page is blank because we ran out of toner at the kinko's on Maple.

We have left it out anyway. We did not want you to wait. If you find this folded on a chair or pinned to the corkboard at the laundromat, please add a line in pencil and pass it along. We will copy it again next week, with the new lines, and the world will be a little more finished than it was.

— with care,   the night oratory