James Thomas Hazard
A spring of warmth
Flows under the shadows
Of bones buckled and healed,
Like a river of gold
Into arms, then legs
The minor Big Bang of a pill
That lets there be night
And a peace deeper than sleep
Stretched long as a cat
And wrapped in a
quilt
As the world on a string
Dangles and swings
I once met a lady
Who came from Japan
To study the harp
At an Irish town
Eight or so miles from Limerick
Piles of rock for walls
One cluttered store
Looking out of its unpainted door
Dogs trotting at their leisure
Men in jackets holding pints of beer
In the pub by the bend in the road
That’ll take a car to the River Shannon
Wide, peaceful and green
Under the shadows of branches
Tall and twisted, broken and healed
Sun on leaves the color of gold
What a strange and beautiful land
We were in