By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall
A Fragment of Machinery in the Road
Part of a specialty clamp in asphalt trapped
Like a primeval animal, jaws apart
A mechanical protest locked in place
When steaming pitch was rolled upon the road
The seasons pass and footsteps pass, leaves fall
But nothing changes for those frozen in place
By the decrees of stasis and stagnancy
Progress blocked by torpidity and time
The seasons pass, my daily footsteps pass
A fragment of machinery in the road
When She Sold Her Old Ford Mustang
Y’all need some more coffee? I got some fresh
That car was my dream; had it since I was twenty
When I got married it was our honeymoon ride
When I got divorced it was all I had
After me and my baby got away from the beatings
Your breakfast okay? We got a new cook
We sometimes had to live in it, y’know?
So like I had to tell my son I’m selling it
I promised it to him for his graduation
That car was our life. But it ain’t safe
Did I tell you we got a new cook? He’s pretty good
I’m been waitin’ tables in this old café for years
Watchin’ the world go by on th’ highway
A Burning Bush That Wasn’t
“Vadam, et videbo visionem hanc magnum, quare non comburatur rubus,” -Exodus III
I was not herding Jethro’s flocks on Horeb
But merely walking for pleasure along the road
And like Moses I saw a burning light
And turned aside to see what it might be
There with my stick I pushed aside a bush
And beheld, sparkling in the morning sun
Flung into place by some man’s mighty arm
And not decayed or dimmed by weather or time
A beer can
At Rao’s Bakery – Coffee, Croissants, Children, and the Constitution
At dawn – hot coffee and a fresh croissant
A family grouping at the table next
And a little child whispering to her mother
The Preamble to the Constitution
I turned and said, “Oh, I want to hear that again”
Proudly the little girl stood beside her mom
And in a strong, clear voice began: “We the People…”
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
I can’t do that anymore. Can you?
The child certainly earned an ‘A’ today
This coffee / croissant / American day
LogoSophia Magazine 