Hush

Winter has tucked me in,
Laid her cool finger
Softly on my lips
And whispered, "Hush."
As I grow still,
A thousand, thousand hushes
Fall past my window sill.
Silently,
Each one brushes
Against my eyes
And I grow quiet,
Stilled, and winter wise.

12/28/87

Christmas Shopping

Somewhere between the ornaments
And the electric toys,
The Child was lost.
Perhaps it was the noise,
Perhaps the cost
Of Christmas gifts these days,
Perhaps the maze of counters
And the gaze
Of faces lost to love
Beneath the glaze of weariness.
He was right next to me for a while.
I remember His sweetness, His smile.
Perhaps I turned up the wrong aisle.
I am, I suppose, looking for Bethlehem
Here on the second floor.
Is this the place to look?
Or will the clerk be telling me
That they don't carry holy mystery
In this department any more?

12/21/80

Old Cat

The cat is dying in the living room.
I move about my ordinary ways --
Eat breakfast, clear the dishes,
Sweep the floor.
I pause from time to time
To stoke her fur,
To listen for her breath,
To gauge the gradual advance of death.
She waits
As still and patient
As if death were mouse or mole
And she were crouched intent
Outside his hole.
An old, old cat,
So frail there is nothing left
Inside her fur
But courage and dignity
And one almost inaudible
Last purr.

9/12/80