By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall
For Cate and Jack (Or Jack and Cate?) On Christmas
Certain joys about Christmas are always true
For among the season’s constant blessings
Are you!
A Porch of Worms on the Feast of St. Stephen
These winter squalls are almost springtime rains
Warm days, cool nights, and windblown showers at dawn
And on the porch appear some curious stains
Dark squirming squiggles progressing up from the lawn
Up from the lawn, up from their earthen beds
In desperate trails of iridescent slime
As peristaltic tubes with wavery heads
Rhythmically marking out their march in time
But all too brief their escape, alas –
A feast for robins who will not let them pass
A Light That Always Gets In
“There is a crack in everything. / That’s how the light gets in.” -Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”
If you are somewhat broken, read from the scroll
Among the lights of Hanukkah
Eight candles of the mind and of the soul
*
Author’s Note on the quotation: Babblings on the InterGossip led me to verify the above quote, which is from the poem “Anthem” published in Leonard Cohen, ed. Robert Faggen, Everyman’s Pocket Poetry series.
Upon Learning of the Death of Papa Ben
“We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.” -Papa Benedict
I awoke from what was called a procedure
And was surprised to be alive, alive
By the brilliance of those called to medicine
By the Grace of God and Saint Elizabeth
When certain images and clouds were cleared
From my weary and befogged body and mind
And the kindest nurse brought a coffee for me
With words of assurances and blessings
I learned that our dear Papa Ben had died
I paused, I put the coffee down, I cried
On this December day when Papa Ben died
Epiphany Moved and Improved
Whatever committee decides these things
Has chosen to shift ancient feasts about
For the convenience of the modern world
In scheduling meetings and interviews
Magi following a smart watch in the sky
The hostler wants the stable cleared by ten
King Herod tapping massacres on an app
Plough Monday must be reset to Tuesday next
Whatever committee decides these things
Is stricken deaf when the sacring bell rings
So This is the New Year
“The road goes ever on and on…”
-from at least three variations of a song in The Lord of the Rings
About this new year – it doesn’t look so new
A metaphorical kick of the tires suggests
It’s been down many roads before
But then, so have we
About this new year – it doesn’t look so new
But the first sunlight in the bare oak trees
And upon last summer’s ground-shoaling leaves
Lead me to pull on my boots and step outside
Frost, sky, sunlight, cardinals, squirrels, life
About this new year – it looks pretty good now
LogoSophia Magazine 