One Night

While chasing the baying hounds one night,

I happened upon this peaceful sight:

As I, all tired from the rousing chase,

Stumbled to rest in a quiet place.

I could see some trees all dark and brown

Where once-green leaves now lined the ground.

I chanced to look through an opening small

At a quiet pond and some weeds grown tall.

I sat there musing without a care

While the song of a bullfrog filled the air.

His lonely song sounded loud and clear,

But the breeze only whispered in my ear.

Above my head a withering branch

Sighed a tired sigh and began to dance.

At the water's edge stood a silent hare

Who gazed intently at his image there.

He stood for a moment, then hopped away

Kicking his heels in frolicsome play.

The moon hung low with an eerie glow

While the stars above were twinkling slow.

The breeze was cool on that starlit night,

As I heard the hounds then far out of sight.

I gathered myself to join the flight,

But a part of me stayed by the pond that night.

Nolan Julian

1974

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