Lawrence Hall, HSG
Old Mr. ‘Possum and the Moon
Old Mr. ‘Possum is a garbageman
Who quietly works his appointed nightly rounds
Unappreciated as he tidies this
And cleans up that, all without any fuss
The other animals don’t seem to like him much
For his wobbling, waddling walk, his untidiness
His pointy nose, his all-draggledy tail
And his awkward shape like a loaf of oaf
But when he lifts his eyes to the queen of the skies
He knows that to her he is a knight in disguise
Lawrence
Hall, HSG
Another Argument Against the Death
Penalty
Each one of
us is a murderer
To someone
else whose memory is long
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Ordinary Time and Advent: as a Diptych or a Dipstick or Something
I. The Last Day in Ordinary Time
Time is not at all ordinary, of course
It is an ordinal of flowing days
Whose current in its journey swims among
The well-marked seasons of sacred observances
Advent into and through Christmas and its promise
Lent into and through Easter and its fulfillment
Cycles of seasons, penance, and merry feasts
Each as a step in the great dance of Creation
All seasons echo God’s eternal rhyme
Blessing our senses with His created time
II. This is When You Light That First Candle Against Darkness
Ordinary Time is now as summer’s lost leaves
Autumn has fallen into fogs and frosts
Pale sunshine flickers from shallow angles all day
Marking out the road to Bethlehem
Before the Altar in the parish church
A wreath is set with four candles to light
The first one today and a second next week
A third, a fourth, and then at last the Stable
The Stable at last, where the universe sings
The happy Desire of all our wanderings
