BY LAWRENCE HALL

Thanksgiving as a Singleton

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

And gravy even if it’s a store-bought broth

Silverware, real plates, and a tablecloth

Wash your hands, light a candle, say a prayer

And open your napkin with your special flair!

You are where you are meant to be, it’s true

And know that God is with you to see you through

An Envelope is its Own Story

An envelope in the post office parking lot

A woman parks next to it, looks down, and sneers

And puffs and heaves her ponderousness inside

To dock at the counter and make demands

I rescue the envelope and note the name and address

Oh, yes. I remember. That was all so sad

At least the daughter’s in the Army and safe enough

It’s a Christmas card. The man must have dropped it

I leave it at the counter, explaining the circs

The postal clerk accepts it back, and sneers

31 December 2020 – Time Out for a Penalty Flag

The old order changeth, yielding place to new,

And God fulfills himself in many ways

  • Tennyson, “The Passing of Arthur”

Change does not lie in calendars or dates

But in the seasonal turnings of the year

And in the ordered ways of God with us

Compassing us truly in spite of ourselves

Years are but our usages and measurings

Tools lent us for a time for learning Creation

For balancing the better against the good

And the transcendent against the transient

Life is not lived in calendars or dates

But beyond all time, and only in Truth