James Thomas Hazard
Stay With Me
At one I shook your shoulder in the dark-
“You hear them howling” I said with a grin
“They’re in the nursery or in the park,”
You said. “Maybe a rabbit lured them in.”
We laughed as if we’d never been afraid
Of being bitten by a rabid beast.
I thought how brave you were the night you
stayed
Outside to hear them, and not in the least
Nervous as I was; but you, young and small,
Plunged through traffic, just a dog by your
side,
Got up after every bruise from a fall,
Stood on a stage when you wanted to hide.
You will not flee and neither will I go
I never thought I could love someone so
Pan
The light is a watery disk of gold
On the knife’s edge of night on the bay
“Camarero, una bolsa para el pan
Por Favor. Me gusta alimentar a los pajaros”
“The birds that eat this bread have died”
He says as he lays the check on the table
“The very bread with my glass of wine!”
But it was dark before he replied
Small Heavens
The scent of coffee when others are sleeping
The ring of coins in a wooden box
White moon riding on a crimson sky
Work that doesn’t mind the clock
Summer showers and crisp, clean clothes
Leaves of trees that rustle at dusk
The lines and wrinkles of a kind face
The quiet end of a long day