Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com


                           For a Texas Ranger on His Retirement

                      
   Strong of Heart, Lover of Truth, Teller of Tales, Stoutest of Friends


                             “Rangers! The best in Texas!”

                 -Monsieur Paul Regret in The Comancheros


A Ranger

Tracking a man among the obscurities
Of a weedy field lit by refinery flares
Beer cans, shadows and mud, cigarette butts -
A suspect is out there somewhere, out in the dark

A Ranger

Tracking a man among the obscurities
Of Texas plains known to Nocona and Coronado
Bleak ridges where the Comanche danced for the sun -
A suspect is up there somewhere, hiding from himself

A Ranger

Tracking a man among the obscurities
Of decaying DNA in a coat worn years ago
A few rotting fibers under a microscope -
A suspect is in there somewhere, under a light

A Ranger

Finding a man in the darkness of lost souls
And bringing him out of it, into the Light