Conceived in heavens From amorphous vapor Condensate Of a single droplet Begins atomic expansion Precipitating out A tear from the void Splashing down Following gravity's pull Toward the unavoidable Rolling along Inexplicably nudged Picking up momentum Gathering steam Babbling incessantly With the stream Passing through bends Shaping them or us Roiling over At the unexpected... Continue Reading →
First frosty down of the year descends Dissolving at my warm touch Ever so briefly exchanging its energy Leaving behind a tingle and a tear of joy Words and images by Michael J. Hall
Tho' a million sets of eyes have looked O'er hundreds of years this way trekked The mysterious loop 'round Cooper Island Among the skunk cabbage, foamflower, and turtlehead None yet have found ancient lost treasure Ne'ertheless, wide-eyed wanderers endeavor Scampering across raised boardwalk planks Ducking und'r bellies of mighty trunks Hoping to stumble 'cross never... Continue Reading →
As dusk devours the landscape, so too does an eerie, haunting sensation consume me. A peculiar plant prevents my further passage to the safety of my home, with its gaunt arms of green and grayish-brown taunting me to come nearer. A chill brushes over me, and the shrub rustles with a sinister whisper, and I... Continue Reading →
You'd left us too soon, still having so much more to impart To teach us To guide us To share with us To embrace us To comfort us To provide for us Always cherishing Her parents and her siblings Her nieces and nephews Her husband and her babiesEven in the final hours of perishing Afraid... Continue Reading →
Many have wasted lives and lifetimes on the quest for the fountain of youth. No such chase ever appealed to me; it seemed like such a foolish undertaking. However, as happenstance would have it, my journeys led me to stumble upon this enchanting pond of velvety, shimmering cocoa. What a delectable spectacle for my eyes... Continue Reading →
"Don't force your children into your ways, for they were created for a time different from your own." Plato Words as true now as they were over two millennia ago. Such a simple precept, yet so difficult to remember that our children did not get the same experience as we had in our youth, nor... Continue Reading →
"What we call pleasure, and rightly so, is the absence of all pain." Cicero Correction: Numbness is the absence of all pain, which some may find pleasurable in brief intervals. Though it isn't sustainable, nor productive. It might be challenging for many to achieve a complete lack of physical or mental suffering, but we needn't... Continue Reading →
"My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened." Michel de Montaigne There are a few famous versions of this expression throughout the history of humankind. About 2000 years ago, Seneca's version from his thirteenth letter "On Groundless Fears" stated that "we suffer more often in imagination than in reality". More... Continue Reading →
michael-j-hall.com 