For Booger-Dog of Happy Memory - poem

  

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

For Booger-Dog of Happy Memory

 

And for his pet human Max

 

The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog.

 

-George Graham Vest

 

His fuzzy little bed is empty today

His dinner is untasted, his water bowl full

Awaiting his ungentlemanly slurps

And his favorite toy seems lonely and lost

 

He will not claim space on my pillow tonight

Nor chase dream rabbits while cuddling with me

Nor lick my nose to wake me up at…

(Geez, Booger, do you know what time it is!?)

Leaping and barking to be allowed outside

 

He will not bound into the kitchen at dawn

Happily barking his joy unto God

Circling and snuffling for his breakfast treat

A bit of bacon or egg from a loving hand

 

Because his brave little soul has flown

To wait for me at the foot of that glorious Throne

Cleaning a Metaphorical Rifle - short poem

 

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

Cleaning a Metaphorical Rifle

 

The Detachable Magazine Holds Ten Lines

 

There is no such thing as an unloaded word

And once a word has left the barrel it’s gone

You cannot call it back – were you sure of your aim?

Draft Beer, Not Students - poem

  

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

Draft Beer, Not Students

 

A slogan from the 1960s

 

In illo tempore:

 

A young man swaggers across the ‘versity quad

Smoking a Marlboro or affecting a pipe

‘Way cool in his sports coat and turtleneck

Shakespeare or physics held loosely in his hand

 

A young woman passes through the ‘versity quad

Smoking a Parliament or checking her mirror

‘Way cool in her pencil skirt and layered look

Shakespeare or physics held closely to her heart

 

Sed in tempore nostro:

 

Pronouns galumph across the ‘versity squad

One fist raised in hate, the other clutching a glowing box

You are not a Banana - poem

 

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

You are not a Banana

 

Sticker Not, Lest Ye be Stickered

 

A banana bears a sticker to say it is a banana

(The banana, that is, not the paper sticker)

Even though a banana is obviously a banana

(It has a yellow skin and some squashy stuff inside)

 

If we take the banana sticker from the banana

And stick the ticker to a tomato

The tomato is not then a banana

However much someone claims it so

 

Sticking sticky stickers to humans is also wrong

A man is himself; a woman is herself

If we stick a sticky sticker to a human

As a joke, well, that’s just a bit of fun

 

But if as a judgement then we are false witnesses

 

Stickers, nothing but stickers, excuses

Failures of intellect, truth, and caritas

Stickers are two-dimensional; they have no depth

Stickers are useless even on bananas

 

And our brothers and sisters are not bananas

Barefootin' Among Watermelons on a Summer Afternoon - poem

  

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

Barefootin’ Among Watermelons on a Summer Afternoon

 

For J. W., His Dad, and His Uncle Brandon

 

J. W. is blessed with family and purpose and love

Guided study and chores and structured faith

Happy barefootin’ days among the watermelons

A fishing pole and buzzing-bee summer afternoons

Feeding the Squirrels and Birds at Dawn - very short poem

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

Feeding the Squirrels and Birds at Dawn

 

A squirrel sits upon a little mound of corn

And faces the east with its nimble forepaws

Clasped gently together as if in prayer

The Grave Robber of Fifth Avenue - poem

  

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

The Grave Robber of Fifth Avenue

 

Unferth postures upon the ashes of warriors

The warriors he has despised all his wretched life

Because he is unworthy to be one of them

Warring with only his mouth and never a spear

 

He mocks their wounds, their missing limbs, their graves

He steals their widows and orphans for himself

As ornaments to his manic caperings

While arrogating honors he could never win

 

But when the Dragon comes…

 

But when the Dragon comes, lashing its tail

Unferth will be ghosted away as a howling wail