Renaissance Harmony: A Monastery

A quiet reigns, but not
the quiet of sense,
that softening quiet
tempting to diffusion and dispersal
bathing all
in sweetened peace
lulling to rest and sleep.

This quiet, the stillness of
utopian dreams of order
imposed on recalcitrant material,
visible as perfection of line
marching stately
under perfect curves
of endless arch,
shadows falling in geometric neatness
on measured courtyards
where spirit contemplates universal harmony
made manifest.