Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
We Know Where You RINO Traitors Live
Some Christians by a newer word seem to abide:
For they preach Trump, and Him crucified
(As Charles Spurgeon did not say)
Thursday, June 23, 2022
We Know Where You RINO Traitors Live - doggerel
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
The Morning Radio Guy Turns Himself Off - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The Morning Radio
Guy Turns Himself Off
He was much of my mornings for years
His news, his jokes, his notes, his anecdotes
His affirmation of the goodness of man
Began each day with good humor and wit
But now he brandishes the radio waves
Like an old man threatening with his cane
By-Godding both the future and the past
Trapped forever in a 6th of January
Poor man! All he does now is scorn and scoff -
It’s like he’s turned his own radio off
Monday, June 20, 2022
The Metternich System - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The Metternich
System
Like Metternich
We seem to be shoring up crumbling institutions
Institutions that have no use for us:
Heavy-lipped Habsburgs, an ossified Church
Like Metternich
We ask if the revolutionaries have permission
To murder each other for the Goddess Reason
While princes and oligarchs flee for their lives
Like Metternich
We wonder if Napoleon won after all
Sunday, June 19, 2022
CLASS OF 2022!!!!! - free clothes and groceries Tuesdays and Thursdays
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
CLASS OF
2022!!!!!!
“CLASS OF 2022!!!!!” is still painted on his pickup truck
Which is parked in front of Christian Outreach
Free food and clothes on Tuesdays and Thursdays
He’s got his MePhone and a box of stuff
And some accuse the young of not planning for their
future
Midsummer Sunflowers - weekly column, 19 June 2022
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Midsummer
Sunflowers
Colonel
von Luger: “Fliers are gentlemen, not peasants to dig in the earth.”
Group
Captain Ramsey: “The English have always been very keen on gardening.”
Von
Luger: “Yes, but flowers. Is this not so?”
Ramsey:
“You can’t eat flowers, colonel.”
-The Great Escape (1963)
But of course the seeds of some flowers are edible. Now
that we are at the summer solstice the sunflowers are ripening quickly. Mine
are a great success, the third crop of native American sunflowers I planted
last year. The package I bought from CowCreek.Com (or something like that) contained
15 or so different varieties of real sunflowers in all sorts of colors,
presumably much as the First Nations cultivated them.
I planted zinnias, the spouse-person’s favorites, in a
parallel plot but they and the sunflowers have become great friends and share
the patch. They have required lots of watering this year, but together the
sunflowers, zinnias, and to a lesser extent the tomatoes make a colorful show.
The peppers gave it up early.
Even now the sunflower heads are maturing into seeds and
in the next week or so – I don’t want to rush them – I will begin harvesting
them and storing them in the refrigerator in paper bags. The birds will
certainly enjoy a feast, but many seeds will fall to the ground for the second
crop. When both the sunflowers and zinnias are pretty much gone in July I will
mow everything down and then simply wait for the second crop. Unless there is
an early freeze that second crop will be just as beautiful when autumn comes.
The bees are happy and I have a fine crop of tree frogs,
very useful little creatures and reportedly reliable biological markers: if you
have bees and tree frogs you have good air, soil, and water.
This week is the summer solstice, also observed on St.
John’s Day, which is also known as Midsummer Day. The eggheads time the arrival of summer to
the hour, although any schoolchild knows that the first day of summer is the
first day after school lets out. Functionally this week is midsummer, when the
sun is at its apogee and the daylight hours at their longest. Our nifty little
solar system will slowly, slowly begin altering the courses of the planets and navigating
toward the winter solstice and the Nativity six months from now.
The ancients sorted all this out with their observations
of stars and shadows and the Great Dance (C. S. Lewis) of the planets from
pyramids and ziggurats in the Middle East and stones planted on Salisbury
Plain. We don’t have to eyeball the sunlight through Stonehenge or climb a roof
in Israel to track the stars; all we need do is call up one of the weather
applications on our MePhones to note the changes.
Just now a cold front would be the most welcome seasonal
marker of all.
And Colonel von Luger was wrong: gentlemen dig in the
earth.
-30-
Saturday, June 18, 2022
The Day Internet Explorer Died - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The Day Internet
Explorer Died
Our gadgets from the store, all shiny and new
The subjects of our brags and anecdotes
Are soon held together with Scotch tape and glue
And covered with coffee stains and sticky-notes
Codings and software must also decay
Metaphorical patches fall apart
They too enjoy only a limited day
Thus the limits of electronic art
To our own end, yes, we eventually toddle -
To be replaced by the latest model!
Friday, June 17, 2022
Like Love Withdrawn - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Like Love
Withdrawn
After months of dreary drought and heat
Light raindrops fall upon the withered world
A few, a very few, and then they stop
Like love withdrawn upon waking from a dream
At dusk the paving into dryness steams
Only the hot and heavy air is wet
And smells of disappointment, dark and sour
Like love withdrawn upon waking from a dream
The westering sun shines briefly, and then is gone
Like love withdrawn upon waking from a dream
Thursday, June 16, 2022
The True Believer Fondles His Piece - doggerel
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The True Believer
Fondles His Piece
He cleans his AR with his little rod
And screams that Trump is his daddy-god
("Piece," of course, refers to a firearm. In a free society the reader may interpret it otherwise.)
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
The Stillness of the Summer Solstice - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
The Stillness of the
Summer Solstice
I picked a few plums in the summer heat
Some withered apples in the summer heat
A bouquet of zinnias in the summer heat
The figs still green in the summer heat
I gathered blueberries in the summer heat
I dragged water hoses in the summer heat
I mowed the lawns in the summer heat
I fed the hummingbirds in the summer heat
Summer is the season that seems to stand still
And I don’t
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Cemeteries are Dangerous Places - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Cemeteries are
Dangerous Places
“The dead with charity enclosed in clay”
-Henry V, IV.viii.119
A friend wanted to visit the bones of her people
And give their graves some weed-killer and tending
I was deputed to follow along:
Cemeteries are dangerous places
The cicadas droned through the midday heat
While respectful dust covered the leaves
And my pistol remained discreetly pocketed:
Cemeteries are dangerous places
You never know if you’ll end up in one:
Cemeteries are dangerous places
Monday, June 13, 2022
Assault Speeches - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Assault Speeches
Demanding answers speeches outrage speeches
Taping stuffed toys to chain-link fences speeches
Candles speeches makeshift shrines speeches sermons
Speeches asking questions speeches antisocial media
Postings speeches yelling speeches no words
Speeches just no words speeches beyond
An open letter to speeches horrific speeches
No gun zone speeches AR-15 style
Speeches legally speeches well-regulated
Speeches why didn’t someone speeches assault rifle
Speeches it’s not an assault rifle speeches
Assault rifle speeches it’s not an assault rifle
Speeches assault rifle speeches it’s not
An assault rifle speeches speeches speeches
Sunday, June 12, 2022
The Rock Upon Which New York is Built - weekly column, 12 June 2022
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com
The Rock Upon
Which New York is Built
His Honor Eric Adams, Mayor of New York, is into magic
rocks and crystals, part of the reiki / chakra / ouija / enneagram / pyramid world
of self-obsessed low-prole fantasy that would embarrass a sixth-grader.
His bracelet of little stones was noticed when he ran for
office, but the assumption was that these were but ornaments – the mayor is a
man of fashion. Someone mentioned that one of the stones was from West Africa,
and that’s certainly a nice thing, a connection with one’s ancestral homeland.
But apparently, according to several sources (hey, they’re
on the InterGossip; they must be true, right?), the mayor believes that
different rocks and crystals possess special powers. One stone is for healing,
another for protection, another for peace, and so on, all rather Harry
Potter-ish.
And this is surprising in a grown man with a solid (maybe
even rock-solid) background: his father was a butcher and, sadly, an alcoholic.
His mother cleaned houses. He was something of a street tough and was arrested
for criminal mischief, doing a few days in juvy and then probation. A police
officer and a minister appealed to his better self, and young Eric finished
high school, worked different jobs to pay his way through community college and
then a B.A. in criminal justice and a Master’s in Public Administration. He joined
the New York Police Department as a street cop, retiring as a captain after
twenty years to go into politics.
His life and hard work are an inspiration, and suggest a
man grounded in reality, and yet the bit about the rocks and crystals and the spiritual
influence of the rock strata on which New York is built are disturbing. Eric
Adams is mayor of New York City and thus the leader of one of the most powerful
leaders in the world. If New York were its own nation its economy would be
larger than that of most nations.
According to the (Countries With A Bigger GDP Than New York - WorldAtlas),
only China, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Brazil, and Canada
have larger economies than New York City.
Last autumn the people of New York put their great
economy into the hands of Eric Adams, so, yes, the illogic of his belief in
rocks and crystals is at least curious if not worrisome.
Whatever Eric Adams does is not a local issue; it impacts
all of us. Let us hope he does not forget where he came from, his parents’ hard
work, the beat cop and the minister who saw something in him others did not,
and those long shifts patrolling the subways and the streets in service to the
people.
The New Identity Politics of Eric Adams - POLITICO
-30-
For the Cranky Old Man Who Complains About Girls Wearing Short Skirts in Church - poem
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
For the Cranky Old Man Who Complains
About Girls Wearing Short Skirts in Church
If it were a
crime to be young and pretty
The kids could
be up for the death penalty
If it were a
crime to be young and pretty
The case against
you would be adjourned sine die
Saturday, June 11, 2022
This is Texas - poem
This is Texas
This is Texas
Where books are banned
And weapons are not
Where we pray for our land
And our children are shot
Friday, June 10, 2022
A Grim Quatrain on Mortality
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
A Grim Quatrain on
Mortality
A dog sees birds with its malevolent eyes
And puts the poor feathered creatures to rout
But one day in the field the old dog dies -
The poor birds then will have the dog’s eyes out
(I blame the heat. And fluoride. And George Bush. And public schools. And the mysterious crystals beneath New York City. And the Mormons. And th' Cath'lics. And the Masons. And France. And the Commie spy chips implanted in us with the Covid vaccine. And the hamsterpox. And rock 'n' roll.)
Thursday, June 9, 2022
A Violation of the First Law of Thermodynamics - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
A Violation of the
First Law of Thermodynamics
A day so hot that ordinary tasks
Exhaust the body and the soul; to grasp
The handle of a water tap wearies the mind
To grasp a simple thought eludes one’s will
The day is in violation of childhood summers
When little bare feet scampered across the grass
Those days have in adulthood have been stolen
The victims lie abandoned in the dust
Who will lay these charges, and against whom?
And in what court should this strange case be placed?
Wednesday, June 8, 2022
My Bourgeois Leanings - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
My Bourgeois
Leanings
One
day, at a meeting of the Komsomol…he was accused of bourgeois leanings just
because he happened to wear a tie.
-Yevtushenko, A Precocious
Autobiography, recounting an anecdote by his father
I am the only man who wears a tie
With proper coat and trousers (inspection pass)
Properly kitted like a proper guy
To weddings, funerals, dinners, and Sunday Mass
I am the only man who does not wear
Sneakers or baseball caps, gas-station shades
Knee pants, tee shirts, jeans with a built-in tear
Or plastic jackets shaped like hand grenades
If we are facing civilization’s end -
One’s trousers touch one’s oxfords with a quarter-inch
bend
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
A Poem is its Own Studio - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
A Poem is its Own
Studio
Words lift themselves from the canvas of life
The iambs are open so that the light drifts in
On the artist’s favorite smiling verb
Posing on a dais draped with flowing dreams
Before a canvas of possibilities
Words lift themselves from the canvas of life
A splash of adverb might go here – or not
Maybe a subtle conjunction instead to join
The thesis and the antithesis
In a loving reconciliation
Embraced by silent interjections of love
Words lift themselves from the canvas of life
Monday, June 6, 2022
Do Not Forsake Me, Oh, My Dushen'ka - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Do Not Forsake Me, Oh, My Dushen’ka
In honor of Dimitri Tiompkin
When we learned that a
Russian wrote the score for High Noon
And another for John
Wayne’s Rio Bravo
It made some of the
populist faithful swoon
(Alas that nothing much
rhymes with Bravo)
Given that Tiompkin was a
Russian critter
We’ll just have to cancel
John Wayne and Tex Ritter
When the Last Catholic Church is Seized and Sold - poem
Lawrence Hall
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
When the Last
Catholic Church is Seized and Sold
When at the Last Supper Jesus lifted Himself
Someone at table criticized the servers
For not getting some detail right (“Kids these days…”)
When the last Catholic church is seized and sold
When the bailiffs and deputies are given the keys
(The judges and
lawyers will be laughing over single-malt at the country club)
When the vessels of the Altar are sold for scrap
When the windows are stacked at a re-sale shop
When the last Mass is ended and the people dispersed
When the processional cross is taken from the last altar
server
Grumpy old Catholics will fault the poor child
For not holding it right (“Kids these days…”)
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