Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                    I Might Compare You with Helen or Adonis

                                     Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 53

I might compare you with Helen or Adonis
Or yet some other bright-marbled Hellene
An Aegean deity perfected to rule forever
Over that sea where the sunset kisses the stars

I might compare you with those Aegean winds
Who whisper warriors home to their lovers’ beds
Sailors to sea, philosophers to their pens
And all to sing the eternal verities

I might compare you with Helen or Adonis
But they would defer to your majesty

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                There are Treasures and Keys, But not Like These

                                     Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 52

We are a pair of diamond rings, you and I
Rare treasures sometimes hidden in a chest
And sometimes sparkling on each other’s hand
As though to dazzle the world with our full-hot fire

We are a pair of diamond rings, you and I
Odd bits of carbon firmed and formed by pain
By pressure pushing us into completion
And by our power we made our love victorious

We are a pair of diamond rings, you and I -
Others can only envious us,
                                                              an­d sigh

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                              The Heirs of the Heirs of Stalin


                   But how remove Stalin’s heirs from Stalin!

                          -Yevtushenko, “The Heirs of Stalin”


The heirs of the heirs of Stalin

Fat boys fly Come and Take It flags on their cheeseburgers
Their double cheeseburgers with fat fistfuls of freedom fries
John Wayne-ing lines from Fort Apache and The Green Berets
Taking their orders from QAnon and Fox

The heirs of the heirs of Stalin

Beefcake their *** toys in 5.56
They love the man who threatens their lives and wives
They kneel and grovel to him; they would ****** for him
Moulder in prison for him – and he would never notice them

The heirs of the heirs of Stalin

Whoop that their Leader is anointed of Jesus, that he saves
(His limousine will rumble over their poor graves)

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                     Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump Schedule a Debate

                   “No, sir, I do not bite my dentures at you, sir;
                     but I bite my dentures, sir.”

               -as a brawler in Romeo and Juliet I.i.57 does not say

Neither man is a coherent talker -
This might end as combat by walker

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                       Love Abandoned Along a Desert Road

                                Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 51

I wonder if my love forgave me at all
For tossing my sleeping bag, my books, my clothes
My typewriter and my dreams into my old MG
And pointing everything west into the sun

Shakespeare speaks of a slow return to her
But I stopped at the Pacific, and lingered for years
A few ‘phone calls from far away, some letters
And then forever silence

Relationships are not covered by a funeral pall

But still

I wonder if my love forgave me at all

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                   Would You Like to Go for a Coffee with Me?

The sweetest words that anyone ever spoke
Were not by Shakespeare, no, not even he
But by many a shy and nervous bloke:
Would you like to go for a coffee with me?

Even Romeo would squeak it in a trembling voice
Fearing, hoping what might her answer be
Oh, what will be her answer, her pleasure, her choice:
Would you like to go for a coffee with me?

For a cup of coffee is a communion shared
A moment when friends make a discovery
Of a vision and gentle thoughts now paired:
Would you like to go for a coffee with me?

Oh, yes

The sweetest invitation that ever could be:
Would you like to go for a coffee with me?

14 May 2024

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                  Shakespeare Didn’t Drive a Clapped-Out MGA

                                  Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 49

A time will come when you will audit me:
My prospects as a husband and provider
The possibilities of a comfortable home
And maybe the Mercedes you deserve

I amuse you now, but not for long:
A studio apartment with a rabbit-ears TV
A hideaway bed for frolics in the afternoon
Sale-table wine and Bugler-rolled joints

Not quite Rod McKuen, to my dismay:
It’s not if but when you go away