Constantine’s Dream Patti Smith

In Arezzo I dreamed a dream
Of St. Francis who kneeled and prayed
For the birds and the beasts and all human kind

All through the night I felt drawn in by him
And I heard him call
Like a distant hymn

I retreated from the silence of my room
Stepping down the ancient stones washed with dawn
And entered the basilica that bore his name
Seeing his effigy I bowed my head
And my racing heart I gave to him
I kneeled and prayed
And sleep that I could not find in the night
I found through him
I saw before me the world of his world
The bright fields, the birds in abundance
All of nature of which he sang
Singing of him
All the beauty that surrounded him as he walked
His nature that was nature itself
And I heard him--I heard him speak
And the birds sang sweetly
And the wolves licked his feet