A Morning Dialogue with One's Self - poem

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com

A Morning Dialogue with One’s Self

I.

(As both the alarm clock and the smart phone make unpleasant noises)

Today is the first day of the rest of…
Put a sock in it, all right? It’s too early
For optimism. Two feet to the floor
Yes, two feet, same number as last night

II.

(The bed does not care whether it is made up)

Not making the bed. Those two feet forward
North to the kitchen and the coffee pot
Switch on. Window humidity-streaked
Cats posing prettily in the dawn-light

III.

(The coffee machine gurgles happily)

A fresh new day, and with it new adventures
Still not making up that bed. Don’t gotta.

Morning Mirror Face - poem

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com

Morning Mirror Face

The sleeve of your bathrobe brushes away
The steam – and there you are, your morning face
All washed and ready for a day of hope
And happy service to humanity

Look not upon a straying, graying hair
But make instead a funny face and laugh
And see again the eyes of dreaming youth
And tell yourself a joke you’ve never heard

The sleeve of your bathrobe brushes away
The unhappy remnants of yesterday

Matins and Lauds Without Cats

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com

Matins and Lauds Without Cats

If your sunrise view is of garbage cans
And utility poles leaning over an alley
Or if you have no window, or even a kitchen
If morning dew condenses on barbed wire
Or dripping concrete walls echoing-echoing,
If your only view is of a cinder-block wall
And the only sound is the medicine trolley
Squeaking through its early hospital rounds
Without any coffee or even much hope
Then please feel free to borrow for today
Any of the many, barely-used mornings
From those of us who in our ingratitude
Tend to begin our days of open windows
Not with a joyful litany of praise
But with a tiresome catalogue of complaints