Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.

                         The Several Olympic Committees

Sewerage, filth, top-****, toxins, debris
Deadly bacteria, openly-floating poo
The pollution of the ages flowing free –

(They say the River Seine’s in bad shape too)

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                             A Small-Minded Man

Oh, yes, I am a very small-minded man
Whose horizon stops at the apple trees
Whose vision is much upon the little things:
A tiny snail upon a pepper-plant leaf

A placid rabbit nibbling at the lawn
A squirrel feasting on his daily grains and seeds
A bluebird shyly hiding among the oaks
A mockingbird mocking all the rest of us

No grand visions for me; I will not leave
Small villages of dead bodies and wicked smoke
The rotting bodies of children and animals
Cratered cities of bomb-blackened ruins and stench

I promote no world-changing master plan -
Deo Gratias, I am a very small-minded man

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                      Playin­g the ****** Card

We say we should never play that card
But we see that it has been played
It lies upon the table before us -
Whose furtive, febrile hand placed it there?

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

         A Mildly Amusing Repudiation of the Concept of Entropy


                         For poetry too is a little incarnation.

                     -C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms


All that ever was, that is, that ever will be -
All is from God, and will return to God
As elegant iambic pentameter

(Okay, maybe tetrameter)

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                     The Olympics as Imagined by John Milton


                        On the anniversary of the martyrdom of

                                        Father Jacques Hamel


The Olympics this year seem demon-haunted -
Christians, Jews, and amateurs not wanted

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                      On Being a Still Life Today

No outside duties have called me away today
And so I have become a still life entitled “Ennui”
Or perhaps “Weltschmerz with a Pet Dog”
Two dogs, actually, and they have napped the hours

The rain has fallen day after day after day
A parallel to the Ancient Mariner’s sun
Tree frogs cling to the algae-green window panes
As if they too have lost interest in life

Even so

With my little world all rainy and grey
I am happy to be a still life today

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                            Ill Manners in Paris

                          Opening Ceremony at the Paris Olympics

All are welcome at the Table of the Lord
But first
It’s always good manners to wash your face and hands