Song of the Carmelite

                      
(continence)



Desire for good and lawful
But unnecessary riches
Brings to mind the cloistered clothing
Refurbished with careful stitches.

Give me sustenance for living
(But without the gourmet flavor)
That I might be prone to giving
What self-love would have me savor. 

The Curator’s Notes: Continence here means temperance or self-control, specifically regarding material consumption. The poem suggests that attachment to unnecessary comforts, even lawful ones, deadens the impulse toward generosity. When we don’t need much, we have more to give. There’s wisdom in the phrase “prone to giving”. The poet wants generosity to become a natural inclination, not a forced discipline. This happens by cultivating simplicity of life. The poem embodies its own message: it’s spare, unadorned, functional—like the patched monastic habit it describes. No verbal excess, no decorative flourishes, just clear statement of principle. Form follows content perfectly.