This lingering December cold,
Makes me long for the common land;
When season and storm were sustenance,
Acknowledged as Heaven’s hand.

And I long for that common family
When kin and blood meant care;
Wide roots recognized, ancestral home--
Tradition and heart kept you there.

And too I long for the common Christ,
One faith, and lives parallel;
No questioned distinction of virtue or vice
--I thirst for that common Well.

11/30/2018

Author's Note: Written in a disintegrating rural community at the funeral of a friend's father.

Posted on 11/30/2018
Copyright © 2024 Leonard M Hawkes