Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                       Shakespeare: Love is Our Queen of Freedom

                                   Cf. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 59

I must dispute King Solomon the Wise
For in you there is something new under the sun
A singing voice that before was never heard
And a merry nymph who never teased

Grasses were never tickled by such light dancing feet
The moon never shone on one more beautiful
The stars never wove for others a crown
Of lights that never graced a mortal queen

I must dispute King Solomon the Wise
When I look within your fairy eyes

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

              The Power was Out, the Road was barely Passable,
                                   a Man Wore a Glock

The dawn was hot and wet and sticky and still
In quest of a coffee and a croissant
I stowed a chainsaw into the four-wheel-drive
And dawdled into town, clearing windfall from the road

The breakfast buffet at the Valero, and then out
Some men blocked the door, swapping pills and cash
I begged their pardon and walk through their deal
One wore a Glock on his hip; they all glowered at me

The dawn was hot; the paper-cup coffee was warm
I drove home and got my old generator to work

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

      In Which We Find That Even Shakespeare Could Write Drivel

                         Cf. Shakespeare’s Sonnets 57 and 58

Slave, imprisoned, tame, hate, bitterness, sad, fool:
Topics enough to make pornographers drool

There is nothing here upon which to dine -
Let us wash our hands and go to Sonnet 59

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

           A Run-Off Primary Election Between Two Inadequate Men

Prologue, Exposition, and Chekhov’s Ballot Box:

A wobbly old man complained to the judge
Who had found that he was ineligible to vote
“But the guy on the TV said I could vote,” he whined
“I have to obey the law,” replied the judge, “not the guy on TV”

Rising Action and Conflict:

I took my ballot and perused the names
Two names, the only names, of two bad men

Further Conflict:

I do not have to vote for the lesser of two evils
Because the lesser of two evils is still an evil

******:

I left the little bubbles for those little men blank
And pencilled into an empty space my choice:

                                                        ­   NO!

And underlined it twice

Denouement:

I drove away

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                               Somehow a Desert Came Between Us

                                     Cf. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 56

There lies between us a long desert interstate
Distance and time, scrapyards and tumbleweeds
Abandoned railway towns and empty shacks
Rusty barbed wire defining futile dreams

The hull of a DeSoto, a cast-off shoe
Beer cans, a license plate from ‘52
Cemeteries of young men urged to go west
Where they eventually died, buried with their hopes

Lost lives, lost loves along that lonely way -
But surely you and I will be okay

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                    Draining the Blood of Humans at Twilight


                           A powerful monster //  living down
                           in the darkness growled // in pain…

                         -Beowulf, Burton Raffel translation


In the sinister dusk // they seek our blood
A ghastly enemy // of disgusting thirst
Stealing up from the swamp // and primordial mud –
Well, we stole their habitat // – mosquitoes were here first!

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                             Dancing in a Field of Flowers

                                Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 55

I saw you dancing in a field of flowers
As lightly as a happy butterfly
Or the nimblest, sweetest little honeybee
Pollinating the universe with beauty

Even had I not been there, not shared the hour
You were, you are, you will forever be
Complete, without statue, picture, or poem
For you danced joy into this tired old world

Even so, I still delight in those long-ago hours
when
I saw you dancing in a field of flowers