A collection by Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall
Meditation and Merriment in Early Autumn
“We cannot stay young and strong for long – / Both of us have grey hair at the temples” -Du Fu, “To the Recluse Wei the Eighth”
After summer rains the earth is still green
In the cooling breeze oak leaves dance happily
Old lawn chairs are the humble chairs of poets
Old lawn chairs are the glorious thrones of kings
The seasons remind us of our mortality
We sit and ponder the mysteries of change
We will die, to be replaced by other poets
Who will sit and ponder the mysteries of change
And still, whatever these deep thoughts betoken –
I need to mow, but the lawn mower is broken
Three Hundred Tang Poems, Translated by Peter Harris; London: Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets, 2009
The October Squirrel Festival
For Jerry Nobles of Happy Memory, Our Town Pharmacist and a Joyful Friend
Squirrels!
They’re up the trees; they’re down the trees
They swarm each other just like bees
They’re up the oak; they’re down the pine
They really need a traffic fine
Dachshunds!
Our outraged pups – they yap and bark
While chasing squirrels all over the park
Dachshunds are usual merry and curious
But with squirrels they are fast and furious
But not fast enough
Cats!
Tuxedo-Cat, all proper and prim
Watches the others with a face all grim
An Autumn Flight
A leaf fell, a leaf
A life of summer in flight
In bright golden flight
Like an Autopsy on a Dear Friend
I’m amputating limbs in late October heat
Grateful to this friend who gave me so much:
Those first green leaves and blossoms in the spring
Deeper greens through summer, and apples in season
Something went wrong in the winter, and she didn’t awaken
The summer passed with its more pressing chores
And only now can I cut my friend apart
Into sweet billets for the winter fires
She will be with me this Christmas in comforting flame
And then return to Creation, from whence she came
LogoSophia Magazine 