Four Fair Flowers

by Walt Garlington (August 2023)

Thebaid, Fra Angelico (Formerly attributed to Gherardo Starnina), circa 1420

Four fair flowers of the desert,
John, Heraclemon,
Andrew, and Theophilus,
Fled the busy city
For the empty
Wilderness of Egypt,
Where they could pursue
Union with God
Undistracted
Through ceaseless prayers and praise.
–
Four fragrant flowers of the desert,
Their bodies fed by God
From beautiful fruit trees
And with crystal water from a spring;
Their souls, by an angel
Sent from Heaven
With the Food Imperishable
Of Holy Communion.
–
Four comely flowers of the desert,
Unknown to most of the world,
But whose prayers and virtues
Keep it from disintegration.

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Walt Garlington was born and raised in that part of Dixieland called Louisiana. A chemical engineer by training, he has spent the last several years writing full-time. He has written essays and poems for The Hayride, New English Review, The Tenth Amendment Center, The Abbeville Institute, Reckonin’, Katehon, Geopolitica, and USA Really. He writes regularly at his own web site, Confiteri: A Southern Perspective.

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