STEADINESS

"Pocket Watch", oil, by Hall Groat II

He's noticed
the second-hand of his watch
moving unfailingly
in the midst of a storm.
He's  seen it stay its course
when his days
were collapsing like sticks,
and when his whole life
seemed to be slowing to a stop.
The second-hand
keeps in control of itself.
On his bedside table at night,
it does its quiet work
while his heart is doing its
and the steady stars
are doing theirs.

STILL, AT 69

I still think the world
wakes up each moment.
I still want
to toil in the fields of books,
to rest in the green grass of thoughts,
to see dawn
shake out its hair over the sea,
to help myself
to whole hours of happiness.
I still want to feel the freedom
of walks on far-away trails,
of words waving their arms on pages,
of poems sailing somewhere like ships.

What He Saw at 5:09 AM

He saw the darkness outside,
And the small lamp on his desk,
And the signs of happiness
In his hands, and the holiness
Of the simple things of his life --
The students he studies with,
His family that enfolds him
In their arms,
The woman who washes his days
So they sparkle,
The days that don't stop smiling
And sailing.