Each Birthday is a Step in the Right Direction

January 16, 2024.Reading time 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … A birthday is not the beginning of something new / But rather part of a continuing story / From its Prologue and its Chapter One / Through the dark leaves of Mirkwood and beyond

A Russian Christmas Card

January 9, 2024.Reading time 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … I allowed the time, the year, the day to slip / And so I can only imagine a card for you / A Russian Christmas card in paper and paints / Of Christmas scenes from a happy golden time….

The Turning of the Year

January 2, 2024.Reading time 5 minutes.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … Not minding my own business I urged a tree / Yes, their children are gone / Yes, their children are grown / But the Christ-Child / is here

The Stable is Wherever You Are

December 26, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” … My friend prays at the Stable each Christmas Eve / In statio at St. Michael’s, waiting for the Light / (But indolent half-pagan that I am / I want an early bed on any night)

Two Verses in the Eternal Hymn

December 19, 2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … A river flows out into all that is / And with it your music across the universe / To sing the happy beginnings of all things / To celebrate the holiness of being

Prepare for the King

December 16, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

By Amanda Pizzolatto … It began with a prophecy uttered long ago / Bringing hope to a people that fell from grace / That the Son of God would come to Earth / And not only show us His heavenly Face / But also offer Himself up for our sins / So the Heavenly gates would open to the human race

A Gift of Omelettes

December 12, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … We leave the comfort of a little fire / And repair to the kitchen for a morning repast / Of bacon crisp, of toast from home-baked bread / And omelettes more golden than the morning sun

Like Children Dancing

December 5, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … Like children dancing, leaves form up in rows / Then skitter across each corner and street / As shoals in rolling ranks overflowing other ranks / Or little tornadoes laughing through circles and swirls

A Good Enough Leaf-Time

November 28, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … No more the withered summer-browns of death / Crumbling and sere upon the dry and crackling ground / Beneath a Rime of the Ancient Mariner sky – / Leaves in autumn colours are falling now

Thanksgiving as a Singleton

November 22, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … Memories of a drive-through just won’t do  / Set something on your table, if only for you / A turkey plate from the grocery store / Two side dishes from cans, or maybe more

Being a ‘Possum Must be Rough

November 14, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … Being a ‘possum can only be rough / Dragged all over the yard by a dachshund / A furious dachshund half its size / Until it collapses into a faint

The Squirrel Festival

November 8, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … 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

Alexander the Coppersmith

October 31, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … We don’t know much about the coppersmith / (Indeed, we don’t know much about each other) / The works of an artist’s hands may serve the Lord / Or else they serve Ephesian vanities

The Aeolian Harp and the Aeolian Tree-Stump

October 24, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … Every tree is an Aeolian harp / Singing the Daily Office of the wind

Are You an Old Soul?

October 16, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas … Sometimes we march in step along the route / At other times we seem to fly in pairs / Or sometimes trudge a lonely path in the night / And hear the music of a thousand spheres

A Carrier of Bodies

October 10, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … I don’t know that anyone shouted, “Corpsman up!” / Like in the movies; I was already up

A Station Stop for the Hummingbird Express

September 26, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … Hummingbirds buzz the sugar water buffet / At this junction for the connection to Mexico / I feel I should be wearing a white apron and cap / Refills for everyone – and will that be to go?

Another Funeral in Margaritaville

September 23, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … Of course all our friends are dying away / Old age sneaks up on us, ghosting us in turn: / Yevgeny, Jimmy, Dusty, Judith, Rod, and we / Who blessed each other in our happy youth

Even the Oak Trees are Dying

September 18, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … Poor drought-dead leaves in mockery of autumn / Wind-rustle across the lawn as the dried husks they are

A Cat is Stillness in Motion

September 5, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … There is no stillness like a cat / To the laws of physics a stillness unknown / When all is still he is stiller still / Even stiller than a stick or stone