Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Is He Woke? - poem
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Yeah, every night about nine ****ed o’clock
To get himself ready for the night shift
Busting his knuckles on those worn-out valves
Up on a cracking tower at the refinery
Yeah, he’s woke.
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Is He Woke?
Yeah, every night about nine ****ed o’clock
To get himself ready for the night shift
Busting his knuckles on those worn-out valves
Up on a cracking tower at the refinery
Yeah, he’s woke.
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Re-Imagining the University Yet Again - poem
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Federal financial aid cisgender nouns
Labor market outcomes program-level data
Trans-discipline accountability
Post-colonial tuition and fees
De-masculinize this inclusive space
A different business model admissions pool
Competency-based binary evaluations
(Let no one question the chancellor’s pay and perks)
No
If we want civilization among us
Let’s pour ourselves a drink and argue The Good
NB: I employed “chancellor” as a catch-all for administration and the layers of good ol’ boys / good ol’ girls on boards. A correspondent suggested:
As long as you're questioning the chancellor's pay and perks, please also look into the HEAD football coach's salary, housing allowance, automobile and other perks, AND each of the ever-increasing salaries of those many specialized ASSISTANT coaches ... for offensive coordinator, offensive line, quarterbacks, running backs, defensive coordinator, defensive line, linebackers, defensive backfield, special teams, scouting, ...just to name a few.
I reminded my correspondent of the house warden in Doctor Zhivago who resents the eponymous hero for telling the truth, and says, “Your attitude is noticed, you know!”
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Re-Imagining the University Yet Again
Federal financial aid cisgender nouns
Labor market outcomes program-level data
Trans-discipline accountability
Post-colonial tuition and fees
De-masculinize this inclusive space
A different business model admissions pool
Competency-based binary evaluations
(Let no one question the chancellor’s pay and perks)
No
If we want civilization among us
Let’s pour ourselves a drink and argue The Good
NB: I employed “chancellor” as a catch-all for administration and the layers of good ol’ boys / good ol’ girls on boards. A correspondent suggested:
As long as you're questioning the chancellor's pay and perks, please also look into the HEAD football coach's salary, housing allowance, automobile and other perks, AND each of the ever-increasing salaries of those many specialized ASSISTANT coaches ... for offensive coordinator, offensive line, quarterbacks, running backs, defensive coordinator, defensive line, linebackers, defensive backfield, special teams, scouting, ...just to name a few.
I reminded my correspondent of the house warden in Doctor Zhivago who resents the eponymous hero for telling the truth, and says, “Your attitude is noticed, you know!”
Monday, January 20, 2020
Teenagers in the Book Store - poem
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
There were three, two of them flitting about
The third was sitting cross-legged on the floor
In a sweater and jeans, her shoes kicked off
Quite lost in a slender paperback of verse
The gum-chewer in charge, flying a toy dragon
An obedient girl following him
Approached and announced “We’re going.
“I said we’re going. Hey, I said we’re going - NOW.”
In camouflaged defiance the reader arose
And shelved her book,
and smiled,
and whispered to me
“Thank you”
And I don’t know why
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Teenagers in the Book Store
“Only the solitary seek the truth”
-Boris Pasternak
There were three, two of them flitting about
The third was sitting cross-legged on the floor
In a sweater and jeans, her shoes kicked off
Quite lost in a slender paperback of verse
The gum-chewer in charge, flying a toy dragon
An obedient girl following him
Approached and announced “We’re going.
“I said we’re going. Hey, I said we’re going - NOW.”
In camouflaged defiance the reader arose
And shelved her book,
and smiled,
and whispered to me
“Thank you”
And I don’t know why
Sunday, January 19, 2020
The Question Chernyshevsky and Lenin Asked - poem
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
On Monday there will be marches and rioting
Comrades and Activists and Anti-Thats
Bombs with the right hand, selfies with the left -
(Will anyone stay home and milk the cows?)
The tattoos of the Second Amendmenters
Will bristle at those of the New Red Guard
As trash bins burn in holy sacrifice –
(But who will wash the streets tomorrow dawn?)
They all scream for a Revolution, you’ll note -
(But did any of them ever bother to vote?)
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The
Question Chernyshevsky and Lenin Asked
What is to be done?
Comrades and Activists and Anti-Thats
Bombs with the right hand, selfies with the left -
(Will anyone stay home and milk the cows?)
Will bristle at those of the New Red Guard
As trash bins burn in holy sacrifice –
(But who will wash the streets tomorrow dawn?)
(But did any of them ever bother to vote?)
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Socialist Capitalist Brutalist Health Care - a poem of protest
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Another bill for the CPAP today
This time from a collection agency
For an old machine paid for years ago
By Medicare, private insurance, and me
Contracts, receipts, copies of letters and notes
Are nothing to the computerized continuum
Along which elderly humans are abandoned
To drown in a miasma of incessant demands
Like the DVA they just seem to scoff:
Have the workers pay more and then
die off
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Socialist Capitalist Brutalist Health Care
“Health care was affordable before it became free”
-many attributions
For FamousNameBrand Healthcare, Medicare, and a collection agency
Another bill for the CPAP today
This time from a collection agency
For an old machine paid for years ago
By Medicare, private insurance, and me
Contracts, receipts, copies of letters and notes
Are nothing to the computerized continuum
Along which elderly humans are abandoned
To drown in a miasma of incessant demands
Like the DVA they just seem to scoff:
Have the workers pay more and then
die off
Friday, January 17, 2020
Saint Anthony, Abbot, Had a Rabbit - nonsense
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Saint Anthony, Abbot
Had a rabbit
Who
Chewed his shoe
(This bit of nonsense came to me in the pre-dawn several years ago while noting the date, 17 January, on the nice church calendar the funeral home gave me.)
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Saint Anthony, Abbot, Had a Rabbit
Saint Anthony, Abbot
Had a rabbit
Who
Chewed his shoe
(This bit of nonsense came to me in the pre-dawn several years ago while noting the date, 17 January, on the nice church calendar the funeral home gave me.)
Thursday, January 16, 2020
The House Speaker's Souvenir Pens - weekly column
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com
Not that a wise American quite trusts any news report, especially via the InterGossip, but apparently Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi really did hand out as souvenirs the dozens of pens she used with all due solemnity (cough) to sign the articles of impeachment. Even CNN found this somewhat embarrassing (https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-impeachment-live-01-15-2020/index.html).
The pens, stamped on the barrels with “Nancy Pelosi” in gold ink, were said to have been borne into the ceremony on a silver platter, but the photograph on CNN suggests that there were three platters in proletarian stainless steel. Maybe someone found a bargain at Goodwill.
The choice of metals could be a matter of controlling the budget or appealing to The People: one imagines that after the seven impeachment managers danced for the House Speaker she might have cried (but probably didn’t), “Bring me, on a proletarian stainless steel platter, the dignity of the congress!”
It could have been worse; the Speaker might have chosen to reflect the gravitas of a formal accusation of crimes against the nation by handing out balloons, helium-filled balloons at that, so that our conscript fathers and mothers could all talk like Donald Duck.
A few of them talk like Donald Duck anyway.
I believe that district attorneys and grand juries prefer to distribute fun-filled goodie bags for felony indictments.
Anticipate rubber duckies at the next state funeral.
If you look carefully at John Trumbull’s 1817 painting of the Declaration of Independence you can see, behind Hillary Clinton’s foot, the cardboard boxes of souvenir kazoos.
It is curious that in our state and local elections we the people are almost always presented with worthy choices of candidates for office. In local elections we are often presented with an embarrassment of riches, good men and women on both party tickets.
Why, then, do our two dominant parties fail to present Americans with serious candidates, men and women of genuine gravitas, for the highest offices, instead of oddballs of the sort who show up on YouTube and on doorbell cameras?
Bias note: Dear Reader, Y’r ‘Umble and Non-Nobel-Prize Winning Scrivener doesn’t like ANY of the personalities mentioned above, and would rather vote for you.
Mhall46184@aol.com
The House Speaker’s Souvenir Pens
Not that a wise American quite trusts any news report, especially via the InterGossip, but apparently Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi really did hand out as souvenirs the dozens of pens she used with all due solemnity (cough) to sign the articles of impeachment. Even CNN found this somewhat embarrassing (https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-impeachment-live-01-15-2020/index.html).
The pens, stamped on the barrels with “Nancy Pelosi” in gold ink, were said to have been borne into the ceremony on a silver platter, but the photograph on CNN suggests that there were three platters in proletarian stainless steel. Maybe someone found a bargain at Goodwill.
The choice of metals could be a matter of controlling the budget or appealing to The People: one imagines that after the seven impeachment managers danced for the House Speaker she might have cried (but probably didn’t), “Bring me, on a proletarian stainless steel platter, the dignity of the congress!”
It could have been worse; the Speaker might have chosen to reflect the gravitas of a formal accusation of crimes against the nation by handing out balloons, helium-filled balloons at that, so that our conscript fathers and mothers could all talk like Donald Duck.
A few of them talk like Donald Duck anyway.
I believe that district attorneys and grand juries prefer to distribute fun-filled goodie bags for felony indictments.
Anticipate rubber duckies at the next state funeral.
If you look carefully at John Trumbull’s 1817 painting of the Declaration of Independence you can see, behind Hillary Clinton’s foot, the cardboard boxes of souvenir kazoos.
It is curious that in our state and local elections we the people are almost always presented with worthy choices of candidates for office. In local elections we are often presented with an embarrassment of riches, good men and women on both party tickets.
Why, then, do our two dominant parties fail to present Americans with serious candidates, men and women of genuine gravitas, for the highest offices, instead of oddballs of the sort who show up on YouTube and on doorbell cameras?
Bias note: Dear Reader, Y’r ‘Umble and Non-Nobel-Prize Winning Scrivener doesn’t like ANY of the personalities mentioned above, and would rather vote for you.
-30-
The House Speaker's Souvenir pens - poem
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
On a stainless steel tray bring us the prize
The dignity of Congress, like a sightless head
Now as stacks of souvenir pens to be flung
Like elementary-school giveaway treats
And bring us the President’s latest twoots
Festooned with coarse slurs and obscenities
His feral howls to a republic in decay
Amid the plastic pillars of puffery
But let this be the theme of our closing hymn:
We truly have no respect for any of them
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The House Speaker’s Souvenir Pens
On a stainless steel tray bring us the prize
The dignity of Congress, like a sightless head
Now as stacks of souvenir pens to be flung
Like elementary-school giveaway treats
And bring us the President’s latest twoots
Festooned with coarse slurs and obscenities
His feral howls to a republic in decay
Amid the plastic pillars of puffery
But let this be the theme of our closing hymn:
We truly have no respect for any of them
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
"I Went to Vietnam to Understand America's Role..." - poem
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
A young writer for (Famous Travel Magazine)
Reports that she journeyed to Viet-Nam
And was blown away by what she learned there
Blown away
Sure
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
“I Went to Vietnam to Understand America’s Role in Its History
and Was Blown Away by What I Learned”
A young writer for (Famous Travel Magazine)
Reports that she journeyed to Viet-Nam
And was blown away by what she learned there
Blown away
Sure
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Death and Dentistry - poem
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
How easy it is to cry “Invictus!”
And babble about one’s unconquerable soul
or even
“Rage, rage, against the dying of the light!”
On those days when one hasn’t chipped a tooth
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Death and Dentistry
How easy it is to cry “Invictus!”
And babble about one’s unconquerable soul
or even
“Rage, rage, against the dying of the light!”
On those days when one hasn’t chipped a tooth
Monday, January 13, 2020
Bus Fare for the Common Man - poem
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
A set of civvies from the 4.0 Locker Club
Which fool no one; the hair is a sailor’s cut
That book of free verse everyone’s talking about
And a transfer to Mission Beach in hand
We rocket by stops down Lower Broadway
From Horton Square, palm trees and cigarettes
A KOGO radio ad on the back
Salesgirls on, sailors off, YMCA
I’m riding to Mission Beach to read and think –
We could have coffee. And talk. Will I see you there?
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Bus Fare for the Uncommon Man
With a transfer to Mission Beach
A set of civvies from the 4.0 Locker Club
Which fool no one; the hair is a sailor’s cut
That book of free verse everyone’s talking about
And a transfer to Mission Beach in hand
We rocket by stops down Lower Broadway
From Horton Square, palm trees and cigarettes
A KOGO radio ad on the back
Salesgirls on, sailors off, YMCA
I’m riding to Mission Beach to read and think –
We could have coffee. And talk. Will I see you there?
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Descartes Saw Nothing - poem
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
A Cartesian measures:
A pre-adolescent human xx centimeters tall displacing varying amounts of turbid water of a certain ph in a tributary stream which at 1326 hours Central Standard Time channels the flow of xxx liters of water a minute in a southeasterly direction through a climax forest of mixed hardwoods, predominantly oak (97%), and other species (3%, unmarketable). Append a minimum of five peer-refereed sources formatted as per the APA and submit – submit – via pdf.
But you and I see:
A little child laughing and splashing in joy
Laughing and splashing in the shady creek
Barefoot, muddy foot in the creek, probably
Against her loving parents’ stern instructions
On a glorious Robin Hood summer day
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Descartes Saw Nothing
A Cartesian measures:
A pre-adolescent human xx centimeters tall displacing varying amounts of turbid water of a certain ph in a tributary stream which at 1326 hours Central Standard Time channels the flow of xxx liters of water a minute in a southeasterly direction through a climax forest of mixed hardwoods, predominantly oak (97%), and other species (3%, unmarketable). Append a minimum of five peer-refereed sources formatted as per the APA and submit – submit – via pdf.
But you and I see:
A little child laughing and splashing in joy
Laughing and splashing in the shady creek
Barefoot, muddy foot in the creek, probably
Against her loving parents’ stern instructions
On a glorious Robin Hood summer day
Saturday, January 11, 2020
The Beginning of Etiquette - poem
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Don’t lapse into low-prole defensiveness
About getting the settings properly spaced
Such is important, but for elegance
Just start with your heart; the rest falls into place
Don’t forget the napkins, set the plates so
Upon the tablecloth with its delicate lace
Silverware all in an orderly row
And never, ever neglect to say grace
Honor your guests and give thanks to God:
Anything less would be lacking and odd
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The Beginning of Etiquette
Don’t lapse into low-prole defensiveness
About getting the settings properly spaced
Such is important, but for elegance
Just start with your heart; the rest falls into place
Don’t forget the napkins, set the plates so
Upon the tablecloth with its delicate lace
Silverware all in an orderly row
And never, ever neglect to say grace
Honor your guests and give thanks to God:
Anything less would be lacking and odd
Friday, January 10, 2020
Daf Yomi - poem
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The daily Daf Yomi will not make me
A better Jew; I am not a Jew at all
And Talmud is not a fashionable therapy
For it is not a therapy at all
Then why subscribe to a daily study page?
For much the same reason as one takes breath
Or turns aside to see a Burning Bush
Or wonders at that Voice whispering at night
The daily Daf Yomi will not make me -
I turn aside to read it because it burns
community@myjewishlearning.com
https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/ritual-and-observance/296538/daf-yomi-288-siyum-final
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Daf Yomi
The daily Daf Yomi will not make me
A better Jew; I am not a Jew at all
And Talmud is not a fashionable therapy
For it is not a therapy at all
Then why subscribe to a daily study page?
For much the same reason as one takes breath
Or turns aside to see a Burning Bush
Or wonders at that Voice whispering at night
The daily Daf Yomi will not make me -
I turn aside to read it because it burns
community@myjewishlearning.com
https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/ritual-and-observance/296538/daf-yomi-288-siyum-final
Thursday, January 9, 2020
A Full Moon, a Vapor Trail, and a Star - a happy poem
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The night is disturbed – there will be storms tomorrow
Wild wind, wild rain, tornado watches and warnings
The air has been warm and dark and heavy all day
And now grim clouds are massing for a rally
But suddenly the moon breaks free of them
Of wind, of clouds, of earth, of limitations
And joined by a vapor trail and a star
Sails a silent journey for all of us
The night is disturbed – there will be storms tomorrow
But know that soon the moon will sail us to
Our hearts’ desires
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
A Full Moon, a Vapor Trail, and a Star
The night is disturbed – there will be storms tomorrow
Wild wind, wild rain, tornado watches and warnings
The air has been warm and dark and heavy all day
And now grim clouds are massing for a rally
But suddenly the moon breaks free of them
Of wind, of clouds, of earth, of limitations
And joined by a vapor trail and a star
Sails a silent journey for all of us
The night is disturbed – there will be storms tomorrow
But know that soon the moon will sail us to
Our hearts’ desires
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
The President will Lie to the American People at Eleven - an unhappy poem
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
In illo tempore:
When President Eisenhower spoke on the radio
We stopped everything, and listened to him
He was the President, and spoke the truth
He was the President, and could do no other
When President Kennedy spoke on the tv
We stopped everything, and listened to him
He was the President, and spoke the truth
He was the President, and could do no other
In diebus nostris:
And now when a president speaks at all
We assume that he is lying again, and will do no other
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The President will Lie to the American People at Eleven
In illo tempore:
When President Eisenhower spoke on the radio
We stopped everything, and listened to him
He was the President, and spoke the truth
He was the President, and could do no other
When President Kennedy spoke on the tv
We stopped everything, and listened to him
He was the President, and spoke the truth
He was the President, and could do no other
In diebus nostris:
And now when a president speaks at all
We assume that he is lying again, and will do no other
Finding Iran on a Map - weekly column
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The ambush question is asked: Can you find Iran on a map? (https://morningconsult.com/2020/01/08/can-you-locate-iran-few-voters-can/)
Someone who asks you a trivia question has first looked it up himself (the pronoun is gender-neutral), of course, just to score a transient feeling of superiority over at The Old Men’s Corner.
Quick, find Bessarabia on this blank map. Ha. Thought so. You dummy. You don’t even know where Bessarabia is. And you think you’re so smart.
Morning Consult says that a third of American voters can’t find Iran on a map.
Well, really, do you want to find Iran on a map?
If so, just take out your MePhone, type in “Iran,” and you’ll find maps and statistics and the fascinating history of Persia / Iran, one of the oldest countries in the world.
A greater challenge for American voters is finding their local voting booth. Only about 50% of the electorate vote in presidential elections, while only a few, lonely souls, like tormented characters in a novel by Dostoyevsky, vote in local and school board elections, which are far more important.
If you read anything about the geography, history, and culture of Persia, even on a Wickedpedia site, you will probably know more about the reasons for conflict than our leaders.
A good place to begin with the modern history of Iran is: http://origins.osu.edu/article/frenemies-iran-and-america-1900. There are reasons why Iran, Britain, Russia, and the USA have such complex love-hate relationships.
There are, by the way, lots of now middle-aged Americans who were born in Iran in happier times.
Pictures of life in pre-revolutionary Iran are easily sourced. This site is typical:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5103795/Fascinating-photos-Iran-1979-revolution.html
By the way, there is no draft, hasn’t been since 1973, and there will never again be a draft. Young men (not women) still must register, and no one seems to know why.
Finally, feel free to challenge me to find Bessarabia on a map. I did look it up, but now I have forgotten.
Mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Finding Iran on a Map
“Teheran moves fast – everywhere I went, Iran.”
-a very old wheeze
The ambush question is asked: Can you find Iran on a map? (https://morningconsult.com/2020/01/08/can-you-locate-iran-few-voters-can/)
Someone who asks you a trivia question has first looked it up himself (the pronoun is gender-neutral), of course, just to score a transient feeling of superiority over at The Old Men’s Corner.
Quick, find Bessarabia on this blank map. Ha. Thought so. You dummy. You don’t even know where Bessarabia is. And you think you’re so smart.
Morning Consult says that a third of American voters can’t find Iran on a map.
Well, really, do you want to find Iran on a map?
If so, just take out your MePhone, type in “Iran,” and you’ll find maps and statistics and the fascinating history of Persia / Iran, one of the oldest countries in the world.
A greater challenge for American voters is finding their local voting booth. Only about 50% of the electorate vote in presidential elections, while only a few, lonely souls, like tormented characters in a novel by Dostoyevsky, vote in local and school board elections, which are far more important.
If you read anything about the geography, history, and culture of Persia, even on a Wickedpedia site, you will probably know more about the reasons for conflict than our leaders.
A good place to begin with the modern history of Iran is: http://origins.osu.edu/article/frenemies-iran-and-america-1900. There are reasons why Iran, Britain, Russia, and the USA have such complex love-hate relationships.
There are, by the way, lots of now middle-aged Americans who were born in Iran in happier times.
Pictures of life in pre-revolutionary Iran are easily sourced. This site is typical:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5103795/Fascinating-photos-Iran-1979-revolution.html
By the way, there is no draft, hasn’t been since 1973, and there will never again be a draft. Young men (not women) still must register, and no one seems to know why.
Finally, feel free to challenge me to find Bessarabia on a map. I did look it up, but now I have forgotten.
-30-
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