Spring 2012 Paper Lantern

Click here to download a PDF of the issue.  Cover art by Patti Lindaberry. 

Little Monkey

By Karen Wallace

He is hanging from the stairs, 10 feet above the ground

My heart jumps in my throat as I try to be nonchalant

Great swinging George, we smile.

90 miles an hour all over the house,

Let it outside, it will wind down eventually.

3 foot 8, 40 pounds of pure energy.

Was I ever like that? I think I was years and years ago.

What, why, how, always full of questions

He wants to know everything, and he will some day.

Enough to be president, or a rocket scientist

Watching his tornado dance, he can be a rock star, or a karate master

Whatever he wants, the future is wide open

As long as we don’t ruin him with our

Fears and disappointments

Our doubts and disillusionments

Our shattered lives.

Hope, Confidence, Dreams

Never let these things go

Little Monkey

The Old Man in Winter

By Paul O’Halloran

He stands alone,

the old man in Winter.

Aloof to the cold

in a white field of frost tipped grass.

He is unshaken.

Snow flakes fall gently on his shoulders and crown.

He does not brush them off,

too proud to shiver.

The wind cannot knock him down.

He stands even taller.

200 years old today,

the last survivor in a world of progress.

His body is frail and contorted,

his arms twisted and bare.

He has lost his beauty.

In Autumn, as Winter approaches,

the old man weeps auburn tears.

But Spring will arrive, then Summer,

and the birds will remind the old man

how to be young again.