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Hans Ostrom is Professor of English at the University of Puget Sound. He has published poems in Ploughshares, Commonweal, and Poetry Northwest.
Instrument of Good Works #59 (St. Benedict) My will is good at what it does: insist, persist. I despise it as I hated rocks I used to bust up with a sledge-hammer at the gravel-plant, minimum wage. I loathe my will for prolonging foolishness, knocking wisdom aside, and belching pride. I will pay attention to St. Benedict and despise my will. I will.