Lawrence
Hall, HSG
For Brandon Bess, Texas Ranger
Upon 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
