His Cathedral Was Enough For Him

He therefore turned to
mankind only with regret.
His cathedral was enough
for him. It was peopled
with marble figures of kings,
saints and bishops who at least did not laugh in his face and looked at him with only tranquility and benevolence.
The other statues, those of monsters and demons, had no hatred for him---he resembled them too closely for that.
It was rather the rest of mankind that they jeered at.
The saints were his friends and blessed him. The monsters were his friends and kept watch over him. He would sometimes spend whole hours crouched before one of the statues in solitary conversation with it. If anyone came upon him then he would run away like a lover surprised during a serenade.
--Victor Hugo
from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
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moon with Isis Temple
outside Sapphire Canyon
Franz Schubert: "Serenade"
beyond Agate Canyon
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rainstorm in the mojave
lettuce pray