Lawrence
Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love
“The Man with the
Spanish Helmet” on the Barracks Wall
Hospital Corps Barracks, Naval Hospital San Diego,
ca. January 1970
A barracks wall is a studio wall:
Miss April, smokin’ hot sin on a dead bear’s skin
Miss October, tall (in need of a shawl)
Miss January, thin, an aethereal djinn
But among these beauties (grandmothers now)
A Spanish helmet and a stern old man
A white-haired don still strong in chin and brow
Like yours, his eyes for truth and wisdom scan
So then who wears that dreamer’s helmet? Who?
Why, the Dreamer with the Spanish Helmet is
you
Variant ending:
“The Man with the Spanish Helmet” on a Barracks Wall
Hospital Corps
Barracks, Naval Hospital San Diego,
ca. January 1970
A barracks
wall is a studio wall:
Miss April,
smokin’ hot sin on a dead bear’s skin
Miss
October, tall (in need of a shawl)
Miss
January, thin, an aethereal djinn
But among
these beauties (grandmothers now)
A Spanish helmet
and a stern old man
A
white-haired don still strong in chin and brow
Like yours,
his eyes for truth and wisdom scan
So then
who wears that dreamer’s helmet? Who?
And why is
he looking not at me but at
you?
