Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                     “I’ll Be Away from My Desk for a Few Days”

                 “Look upon my absence, Ye mighty, and despair”

                                    -as Shelley did not say

Every once in an ego you’ll read on a site
“I’ll be away from my desk for a few days”
As if everyone must re-schedule his life
And wait forlornly for Mr. O’s return

Nothing else remains 404 Error 404 Error
404 Error 404 Error 404 Error 404 Error

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                 Shakespeare: Honoring a Muse is Sexist, They Say

                                    Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 38

They say that honoring one’s muse is sexist now
That the nine goddesses plus one are victims
Objectified passives honored in name
But neglected when the royalties are paid

But a muse is a goddess of power and truth
The artist or writer does indeed gaze at her
But the goddess gazes back, informing your art
With her beauty and her sternest truths

They say that honoring one’s muse is sexist now -
Ignore their jealousies: obey the goddess

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                         ­     The Spirit of Art

Is

The good, the true, the beautiful

Not

The sullen, the resentful, the envious

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                      A Decrepit Father Indeed!

                                      Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 37

Sitting for an hour at an outside café
Sipping coffee and writing verse and, yes
Discreetly noting elegant mademoiselles -
I never got to Paris, but my daughter did

Waiting for a steamer along the Rhine
Midsummer Night in Finland the Brave
A blessing from Saint John Paul in Saint Peter’s Square -
Not those either, but my daughter did

But now

Flying to that second star to the right –
We’ll all get there in our dreams tonight!

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com


                                  Our Eyes Don’t Really Meet

                                   Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 36


Our eyes don’t really meet, nor do our hearts
But from across the room we still are one
(with complimentary champagne to enhance the mood)
A secret one unknown and never to be known

Our hands don’t really meet, nor do our lips
But from across our dreams we still are one
(you whisper to me from my hollow pillow)
A secret and sweet secrets still to come

Our lives don’t really meet, but they will, you see
Some moonlit night when at last our world is free

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                Smoke Drifting Across America


                                “Zionists Don’t Deserve to Live”

                        Columbia campus protester apologises for
                            '**** Zionists' comments (bbc.com)


Ash-grey smoke drifts across America

                    “That’s a false narrative”
                    “That’s a false narrative”
                    “That’s a false narrative”

The narrative is metaphorical; the smoke is real -
Ashes and smoke from Auschwitz, from burning Jews

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                      Rhy­mes and Crimes

                                 Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 35

I plead guilty as an accessory to crime
In aiding and abetting a violation
Against the peace at a certain time
Arrest me now; write out the citation

For you are both the criminal and the cop
Handcuffs for both the abettor and crook
Don’t let our crimes continue, and yet don’t stop
And please don’t give back the thing that you took

For you are a criminal, the most skilled at your art
You darling little thief: you stole

                                                    my heart