By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall
Flight of the Lawn Chairs
The Lion-Winds of March
Wild winds now rise to a Valkyrie’s strength
And dark clouds roar to the hammer of Thor
While lightning traverses the poor earth’s length
As if our Nordic gods have gone to war
As if our Nordic gods have gone to war
The walls and windows rattle against the rain
Foul enemies batter against the door
The wrath of Grendel, the hatred of Cain
The wrath of Grendel, the hatred of Cain
Have set my old lawn chairs to flying again!
Flight of the Lawn Chairs
The Lion-Winds of March
Wild winds now rise to a Valkyrie’s strength
And dark clouds roar to the hammer of Thor
While lightning traverses the poor earth’s length
As if our Nordic gods have gone to war
As if our Nordic gods have gone to war
The walls and windows rattle against the rain
Foul enemies batter against the door
The wrath of Grendel, the hatred of Cain
The wrath of Grendel, the hatred of Cain
Have set my old lawn chairs to flying again!
The Seven Seeing-Stones
Good Tolkien writes of spring far better than we
With layered allusions to Celtic and Nordic myths
His Fairy Folk sing clearly in rainbow rhymes
Among the crocuses abloom ‘round ancient trees
My crocuses bloom ‘round a shaggy lawn
With garden furniture in need of paint
And morning coffee in a Tupperware cup
To serve as a greeting to the rising sun
Friend Tolkien writes of spring for you and me
And through his Seven Seeing-Stones – we see!
A Tom Bombadil Day
“How bright your garden looks!” -Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings, Book I
Tomato seedlings from the hardware store
Happy little things, six of ‘em to a pack
I sing to them as I drive them home
They seem amused: I am no Tom Bombadil!
I sing to them more nonsense songs
(If no sniffy old Lobelias are listening)
As I gently, gently transfer them
With a pat and a prayer into the earth
And I sing to them; you will understand
For you too have lived in hobbit-land
Children Abandoned in the Rain
I abandon my children to the cold spring rain:
Tomato seedlings in peeling peat pots
Greenhouse-grown marigolds in muck-splashed rows
Poor pitiful peppers paling along the perimeter
I abandon my children to the cold spring rain:
Sunflower seeds in a desolation of mud
Five different varieties, the packet said
Floating among the zinnias and peonies
The sun will come again to warm each chilly grain
But for now
I abandon my children to the cold spring rain
A Roadside Snapping Turtle in April
If you’d spent the winter
Sleeping deep down in the mud
You’d be snappish too!
LogoSophia Magazine 