Lawrence Hall, HSG
Humility Through the Looking Glass
Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 22
My glass surprises me; it
tells the truth
“Who is that old
man?” I ask myself
And it rebukes me for that
foolish question
I must admit to the glass that
I am old
But when I turn and look
outside myself
And greet the happy sun
and breathe the dawn
Of a day rich with possibilities
And think of you – then I
am young again
I tell my glass it is a
silly glass
And it tells me I am a
silly ass
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Marcus Aurelius Down at the Auto Repair
Marcus Aurelius down at the auto repair –
Now there’s an image, him being an emperor and all
One of those philosophers who think about stuff
Who ask questions and read and write and stuff
If a man complains about the cost of new tires:
Meditations V.9 – “Be not unhappy, or discouraged…”
And
II.4 – “Remember how long you have been putting off these things…”
If a warranty has expired:
VI.53 – “Accustom yourself to listen carefully…”
And
VII.24 – “A scowling look is quite unnatural.”
If the engine is blown:
X.33 – “Now it is not given to a cylinder to move everywhere…”
And
VII.54 – “…it is in your power to accept…your present condition…”
And with that, Marcus steps outside for a cigarette.
(Many quotations attributed to Marcus Aurelius are bogus; these have been verified.)
On his large, electrical sign at Kirbyville Automotive my friend Shannon Davis posted this quote from Marcus Aurelius:
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
One does not imagine that quotations from a Roman philosopher and emperor are commonly found on roadside advertising in East Texas.
Update: Apparently Marcus Aurelius did not say this at all. This is just another misquote circling around on the InterGossip and believed by people like me who tend to trust maybe a little too much.
But I wish the man had said it anyway.
Lawrence
Hall, HSG
But Truly Write
Cf. Shakespeare,
Sonnet 21
…poems are gatherings
of words, in good order, in simple order, plain and appealing.
-Mary Oliver, A Poetry
Handbook, p. 77
A line of
contemporary prosetry
Is a catalogue
of florid structures and worn-out cliches
Pancaked
with adverbs and tiresome metaphors
Flung down
in a confusion of unconnected gasps
If you
have something to say, then say it
Then tidy
up the lines – like washing your face
With soap
and water and a cotton towel
And then
admire the sunlit, fresh-air truth
Craft your
lines of transcendent poetry
As clean
sharp-edg’ed truth in well-scrubbed words
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Shakespeare, Venus, and the Travelling Salesman
Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 19
Dear Will,
About your obsession with
mortality:
Transitions and death are
essentials in life
And we must face the obsequies
of ashes or earth
But there are other topics
upon which to write
Let us not consider funerals
today
Let us sit upon the lawn
and smoke our pipes
And write about new leaves
on ancient oaks
(You’ll pen far better
lines; you always do)
Today we’ll ignore our own
mortality
And tell inappropriate
jokes about Venus
and a travelling salesman
Lawrence Hall, HSG
I Will Not Compare
You to a Summer’s Day
Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 18
I will not compare you to a summer’s day
Summer is heat, humidity, and drought
A disapproving sun burning the earth
A dusty, weedy landscape fit only for snakes
Instead, you are a perfect autumn day
A day of good old sweaters and leafy walks
Invigorating winds all fresh from the north
And inside, cups of cocoa and a merry fire
I will not compare you to a summer’s day
Your autumn is far more lovely and temperate
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Time is not a
Bloody Tyrant
Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 16
Time cannot be a tyrant; it is but a created thing
Like bluebonnets, butterflies, and bumblebees
Painted with pencil or pen by a Hand divine
And set in place as a measure of being
Time cannot be our enemy; we live along it
And like the ground it stabilizes us in place
And like our eyes it gives us vision to see
Each other in our Spirited nobility
Life is not what we take nor what is taken
But what we bring -
Time cannot be a tyrant; it is but a created thing
Lawrence Hall, HSG
A Dollar Box of Crayolas®™
I wanted the biggest box of Crayolas
I had to have the biggest box of Crayolas
I could build worlds with the biggest box of Crayolas
I needed that biggest box of Crayolas!
But the wise voice of situational poverty spoke:
“I am not spending a dollar on a box of Crayolas.”
The biggest box of Crayolas is now about four dollars
Allowing for inflation, much cheaper than in ‘55
I should go buy the biggest box of Crayolas
Maybe I can find a Big Chief Tablet®™ to go with it
