Hermitage

by Nicholas Trandahl

Saint Gummarus*

lives in a wooden shack

up in the Bighorns Mountains,

above Long Lake.

            Days of solitude—

                        lonely

                        contemplation.

By day, prayer and tea.

            By night,

            a warm fire,

watching the stars

through a single window—

            high ramparts of the peaks

            carved by vanished glaciers.

Saint Hubertus*,

when he still hunted deer,

used to come by the shack

for a visit and a hot cup of tea.

He’d take off his quiver

and lean his bow against the wall

beside the door.

Old Gummarus would

add some cut pine

to the black iron stove,

boil water in the kettle

for some more tea,

and he’d tell his guest

battle stories

from those bloody years

before Gummarus

devoted his life to God

and solitude.

Hubertus

doesn’t come by too much

these days.

God seems quieter.

But the stars

are brighter than ever.

*Saint Gummarus was a Belgian saint who retired to live the life of a hermit after many years in military service. Also Belgian, Saint Hubertus was a Christian saint, hunter, and healer, known today as the patron saint of hunters and metalworkers.

Nicholas Trandahl is a U.S. Army veteran, poet, newspaper journalist, and outdoorsman living in Wyoming with his wife and three daughters. He was the recipient of the 2019 Wyoming Writers Milestone Award and has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. He has published four collections of poetry and has appeared in various anthologies and literary journals.