Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Situational Poverty
V: We was poor but we
didn’t know it
R: Oh,
yes, we did
Thursday, June 17, 2021
Situational Poverty - poem
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
One of the Pizza Cantos - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
One of the Pizza Cantos
“Obey Me and Be Free!”
-Free for All, episode 2 of The
Prisoner
Cue the queue for Q, Ezras
by the pound
A crown of horns in pantos
by the fright
Mutually assured
denunciations
Keyboarding demon vaccines
with a little blue light
There’s cycle paths behind
the juke machine
It’s Deep Steak stuff,
yeah, it ain’t on the news
And them albino monks hid all
our votes
Let’s blame the teachers, reporters,
and Jews
Now take your selfie for
the F.B.I.
And when those Commies catch
you, don’t you cry
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
A Dog, a Pocketknife, a Twenty-Two - a poem for fathers and sons
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
A Dog, a Pocketknife, a Twenty-Two
For Jared Allen Brandon, of Happy
Memory
And Jared Walker Bess
A dog, a pocketknife, a
twenty-two
The rightful possessions
of every Texas lad
For working out the values
he must live up to
The virtues that he
learned from his solid ol’ Dad
A dog, a pocketknife, a
twenty-two
Self-discipline, honest
friends, a manly stride
A quiet voice that’s sturdy,
firm, and true
A man of accomplishment
and quiet pride
For you remember your own boyhood,
yes, you do -
A dog, a pocketknife, a
twenty-two
Monday, June 14, 2021
Four Out of Nine Muses Recommend Poetry - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Four Out of Nine Muses Recommend Poetry
Four out of nine Muses recommend
poetry
More doctors recommended
Camel cigarettes
But we are not speaking of
burning poetry
Except by tyrants, who are
frightened of words
Kalliope, Cleo, Erato, and
Euterpe
Have split the poetry racket
among themselves
The other Muses have
business of their own
Worthy enough in their own
arts, we’re sure
But oh, our four Muses,
our Muses four -
We sing for you along your
Ionian shore
Sunday, June 13, 2021
On the Unlocking of Words - as a newspaper column
Lawrence Hall, HSG
On the Unlocking of
Words
Their leader answered him, Beowulf unlocking
Words from deep in his breast: "We are
Geats…”
-Beowulf to the Danish Coast Watcher
One does not imagine President Roosevelt, on the 8th
of December in 1941, skipping his appearance before Congress and, wearing knee
pants, a slogan tee, and some tats and piercings while blocking Pennsylvania
Avenue and chanting, “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Hirohito has got to go!”
In his four-minute speech to Congress, President Roosevelt
eloquently stated the facts of Japan’s simultaneous aggressions against American
and British territories throughout the far east, and then simply asked Congress
for a declaration of war. He did not talk about himself or his mood or his
feelings; he addressed the topic. More than that, he addressed the topic with
words that, because of their simplicity, were powerful.
The art of oratory is little studied now, and so speeches
are seldom about stating the facts and coming to a conclusion, but rather a
matter of posturing and yelling and chanting.
The ultimate failure to persuade is in the use of a
bullhorn. When a speaker at a rally or protest lifts up a bullhorn instead of
his heart, he has demonstrated that he has nothing to say that will appeal to the
intelligence of his hearers, and is now going to make loud noises as camouflage
for his inadequacies.
Good speakers study the great ones, and learn from them: primary
and secondary epics, Shakespeare’s speeches, especially in Julius Caesar,
Macbeth, and Henry V, Macaulay’s Lays of Ancient Rome,
Prime Minister Churchill, President Roosevelt, President Kennedy, Reverend
King, and President Reagan.
In Beowulf, for example, our hero is confronted by a Danish
coast watcher who says, in the strong cadence of the four-beat Old English
line:
“…You! Tell me your name,
And your father's; no spies go
further onto
Danish Soil than you've come
already. Strangers,
From wherever it was you sailed,
tell it,
And tell it quickly, the quicker
the better,
I say, for us all. Speak,
say
Exactly who you are, and from
where, and why.”
Beowulf responds:
Their leader answered him,
Beowulf unlocking
Words from deep in his
breast:
"We are Geats…
…And we have come seeking
Your prince, Healfdane's son,
protector
Of this people, only in
friendship: instruct us,
Watchman, help us with your
words! Our errand
Is a great one, our business
with the glorious king
Of the Danes no secret…”
After more of this polite but firm back-and-forth, the coast
watcher says,
"A soldier should know the
difference between words
And deeds, and keep that
knowledge clear
In his brain. I believe your
words, I trust in
Your friendship. Go forward,
weapons and armor
And all, on into Denmark. I'll
guide you…”
(Beowulf- Burton Raffel - Google Docs)
We hear little such good, plain, meaningful language these
days, either in our streets or in those famous halls of power or in the
unfortunate presentations that constitute popular culture just now. Instead we the
people are often subjected to shouting, screaming, chanting, and unfocused
babbling that seems to echo from, in Milton’s poetic re-naming of (Newark, New
Jersey), Pandaemonium.
The good use of language is important. We need to hear each
other, not yelp at each other. And keep it short. There are many variants of
this old wheeze: An effective speaker must be focused, be clear, be respectful,
and be seated.
Let us, like Beowulf, unlock from our hearts good words as a
form of respect for each other.
-30-
On the Unlocking of Words - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
On the Unlocking of Words
Their leader answered him, Beowulf unlocking
Words from deep in his breast: "We are
Geats…”
-Beowulf to the Danish Coast Watcher
In bold and sturdy
four-beat lines
Beowulf keeps his
knowledge clear
With kennings well-crafted
and careful caesurae
And never needing to raise
his voice
But thus the Grendel-voice
responds:
“Woo woo that’s
just my person opinion that’s what I’m talking about follow your passion learn
to code no offense, but wtf oh my God oh my God woo woo hey hey ho ho
something-something has got to go woo woo only dead fish go with the flow tear
it down shut it down burn it down woo woo lock her up there is no I in team woo
woo not my president it’s not rocket science it is what it is woo woo say it
loud say it clear this is what something looks like woo woo is there an app for
that woo woo that’s what I’m saying woo woo…”
But you - be brave
like Beowulf, and boldly dare
To unlock your words with
creativity and care
Saturday, June 12, 2021
Little Corpses Everywhere - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Little Corpses Everywhere
Woman kept child’s
corpse in a plastic storage tote
-CNN
Little corpses decaying in
storage totes
Little corpses by the
hundreds in unmarked graves
Little corpses by the abortuary
thousands
In bags neatly labeled
“Medical Waste”
Little corpses with shrivelled
meth-tainted lungs
Little corpses dropped
discreetly in the creek
Little corpses all chopped
and dropped and flushed
So that graduation night
won’t be ruined
Little corpses in
factories, mere skin and bones
Their agonies haunting our
new smart phones
Friday, June 11, 2021
Left in a Package Locker - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Left in a Package Locker
“Left in a package locker”
– that probably means
That someone left it at
the post office in town
Because the private
deliveries sometimes say
They can’t find our house,
except when they do
It worked out well enough
for Paddington Bear
But our depot was torn
down years ago
And freight trains thunder
by without a stop
Without regard for
packages or bears
And so
We’ll drive to town next
week to see if there
Is waiting for us,
properly tagged, a little bear
Thursday, June 10, 2021
A Faraday Cage of the Mind - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
A Faraday Cage of the Mind
The dwarfs are for the dwarfs
-C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle
They wire themselves into
a Faraday cage
As they make ossification
great again
Raising their hands not in
salutes but in fists
Their voices not in hymns
but in foul hate
They wire themselves into
a Faraday cage
Hug to themselves a past
that never was
And circulate deception
among themselves
In closed incestuous loops
of rumors and chants
They wire themselves into
a Faraday cage
So that a genuine thought
will never penetrate
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
When Astrid Commands, Her Servant Obeys - rhyming DOGgerel
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
When Astrid Commands, Her Servant Obeys
When a six-pound dachshund
wants your attention
She
will have it (it goes without mention)
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
A Codicil to Sonnet 116 - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
A Codicil to Sonnet 116
When shy young lovers flirt
with each other
Make eyes across a
parent-haunted room
Hold hands in the
magnolia-scented night
And kiss for the first…oh,
that very first kiss!
Do they anticipate petitionings
Investigations and bitter whisperings
Restraining orders,
arrearages, fail nots
Decrees more absolute than
youthful vows?
As old Shakespeare was
never wont to say
Love is not love when
arbitration binds
Sunday, June 6, 2021
The 7th of June, 1944 and 1970 - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The 7th of June, 1944 and 1970
My father beached at
Normandy on the second day
(He was okay with having
missed the first)
From there through France
to Belgium in the mud
For a bloody Christmas in
the icy Bulge
Munich, Buchenwald, Dachau,
Zwickau
For me DaNang, Saigon, Ben
Luc, Moc Hoa
I met a child in a
Japanese army cap
But he wouldn’t sell it.
We all have history
I wish I had that Japanese
army cap
And that we knew what any
of this means
What Would Ol' Doc Adams Do? - weekly column
Lawrence Hall, HSG
What Would Ol’ Doc
Adams Do?
“That’s right: Get a shot, have a beer”
-The President of the United States
Okay, I had the CV, and later on the two jabs, and as a condition
of service as a volunteer have the swab
run up my nose and out through my skull every week. I’m good. The CV was not my
choice, but the jabs and the swabs were, and I am reasonably sure they were the
right choices based on the first-hand recommendations of real people with real
medical qualifications.
Dr. InterNet does not have a voice in my health choices. Nor
does someone’s third-cousin who almost finished nurses’ aide school. Nor does a
purported doctor whose medical school’s name ends with “.com.”
However, my president feels that I and you are merely The
Little People, simpletons who must be coaxed with treats in order to do what he
thinks is good for us. He and Anheuser-Busch, a Belgian multi-national, have
colluded in offering each American a $5 gift certificate, good only for Anheuser-Busch
products, if we will take our medicine like good little girls and boys.
When I was a rug-rat Dr. Moore always gave me a lollipop
after I had a jab, assuring me, despite my screaming and crying and attempts at
escape, that I was a good, brave boy. My
Aunt Lola, Dr. Moore’s RN, would probably have given me a spanking for my
nonsense; she was made of sterner stuff.
We don’t get lollipops now. We’re adults. We make adult
choices without being offered shiny things.
In Florida they might offer you a cryptobeer. You can’t see
it, taste it, or touch it, but trust us, it’s real.
Maybe $20 of glass beads would work as well.
Other authorities offer raffle tickets, and there’s nothing
that says responsible medical care like raffle tickets.
Maybe the governor of Texas will offer a drawing for an AR
to swagger around with, only I’ll bet you can’t swagger into his house or workplace
with one.
Was Hunter Biden given a new laptop for his jab?
Did the two Trump boys receive new hunting rifles?
But in the end (actually, they give you the jab in the arm,
not the end), the one serious matter is this: should you take the jab? That’s not my call,
but neither is it Dr. InterNet’s. My one recommendation is that you should visit
face-to-face with a nurse-practitioner or medical doctor, speak your concerns,
and then listen. Listen. And then you must make an adult choice for yourself.
How to Get Free Beer if U.S. Vaccine Goal Is Reached
(newsweek.com)
Free beer, other new incentives for Biden's 'vaccine sprint'
- ABC News (go.com)
-30-
Like Candles When They Quietly Go Out - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Like Candles When
They Quietly Go Out
He mourns the sons of princes, sown in the dust
-The Seafarer
When we were young
A friend once showed me a passage in a book
In which the monks of a certain cloistered order
Were often blessed with wonderfully peaceful deaths
Like candles when they quietly go out
Domine exaudi orationem meam
Now we are old
Our books require a rather larger print
Our foolish dreams were put by long ago
And the works of our youth are memories
Like candles when they quietly go out
And we are candles
Still giving out a little bit of light
Anticipating with hope the morning Sun
Domine exaudi orationem meam
Saturday, June 5, 2021
The Vocabulary of the Comments Section - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The Vocabulary of the Comments Section
...he held the proper opinions for
the time of year
-Auden, "The Unknown
Citizen"
No words
Just no words
I have no words
Beyond I have no words
Absolutely beyond I have
no words
Absolutely beyond I have
no words fact
Absolutely beyond I have
no words fact end of
Absolutely beyond I have
no words fact end of literally
Absolutely beyond I have
no words fact end of literally actually
No words
Friday, June 4, 2021
A Poetry Brawl Down at the Long Branch Saloon - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
A Poetry Brawl Down at the Long Branch Saloon
I wrestled with a line of
blank verse until
It fell, all writhing on
the floor, and there
It gasped for breath and
glared at me with hate
Each syllable grating
against another
“You have a sorry accent,”
it snarled
“And when my rhythm rises
I will make you
A dactyl fallen or a
trochee tripped
With my booted and spurred
iambic feet!”
But we shook hands, and
let our quarrel cease
And so at Miss Kitty’s there
was
Syllabic accentuation at
peace
Thursday, June 3, 2021
An Instruction in the Virtue of Patience for New Teachers - rhyming couplet
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
An Instruction in the Virtue of Patience for New
Teachers
This truth in teaching children
must be told:
A high school boy’s eyes
are perpetually rolled
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
A Tribute to Gussie Fink-Nottle - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
A Tribute to Gussie Fink-Nottle
From an idea suggested by W. K.
Kortas
Now be ye all upstanding,
and charge your drinks
And let us lift a glass of
orange juice
To all inebriated newt
fanciers
(And
God bless Market Snodsbury Grammar School)
And of all inebriated new
fanciers
None is fancier than
Gussie Fink-Nottle
None better with the
newts, none worse with the girls
(And God bless Market
Snodsbury Grammar School)
God bless the newts in
Trafalgar fountain and pool
(And God bless Market
Snodsbury Grammar School)
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Death at 0200 - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Death at 0200
Graduation shouldn’t be marked with casualty lists
Commencement’s happiness blighted by dawn
The quotes from Frost and Lincoln ashes and smoke
“Go forth!” now cancelled by “services pending”
Graduation shouldn’t be marked by
casualty lists
A seat in university taken by another
A summer wedding that will never take place
A name not on the roll at recruit training
Graduation shouldn’t be marked by casualty lists
Of lives ended in the springtime of youth
Monday, May 31, 2021
Memorial Day 2021
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Memorial Day 2021
Memorial Day is when we remember our friends
As they were before their fragments were dusted off
While we were watching still the perimeter
Memorial Day is when patriotic men
Who only went to war in a John Wayne film
Preach sacrifice on the five o’clock local
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
