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Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                 Still Listening to the Warm

Rod McKuen was the coolest of the cool
And now he’s not
Which makes him warmer than ever
On the pencil-marked pages of our youth

"Listen to the Warm" is still good advice
Lawrence Hall Nov 22
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                               Lemons and the Divine Ekonomia

My neighbor has a lemon tree
He gives me lemons
And I too have a lemon tree
I give him lemons

This is not economy
This is Ekonomia

It is divine
My dear friend Tod of happy memory was Russian Orthodox by profession of faith. I learned so much from him.
Lawrence Hall Nov 21
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                   Politics and the Public Square

Oh, yes, we know about the public square -
That’s where the Enlightenment works the guillotine
That’s where sensitive progressives ****** Jews
And constitutionalists ******* the Constitution

Oh, yes, we know about the public square -
That’s where those who kiss dictators deny the King
That’s where individualists join in mobs
And the last few children are hunted down and killed

Oh, yes, we know about the public square –
Where the screams of the dying poison the air
Lawrence Hall Nov 20
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                  A Treatise on the Burrowing Habits of Dachshunds


                                                   in memory of

                                     Astrid-the-Wonder-Dachshund

                six pounds of barking, yapping, demanding, and love


A dachshund will burrow under the garden fence
For every dachshund thinks she is a wolf
A fearsome apex predator with a squeaky toy -
This is in the nature of dachshunds

A dachshund will burrow into your tightly-closed hand
Nosing out the doggie treat you have hidden there
A fearsome apex predator and omnivore -
This is in the nature of dachshunds

A dachshund will burrow into your end-of-day lap
Watching both the television and the cats
A fearsome apex predator drooling on your book -
This is in the nature of dachshunds

A dachshund will burrow, borrow, beg, and bark
And in her foreshadowing of that better World to come
A dachshund will burrow deeply into your heart -
And love you forever

This is in the nature of dachshunds

And of you
This is from several weeks ago. I dedicated it to Astrid-the-Wonder-Dachshund who shortly before 0200 on a Sunday morning breathed her last with my hand resting on her to the end. Now she runs and plays with your dear pups and pets under the loving Hand of God Who "...will not deny one who is so blithe to go to Him" (A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS).
Lawrence Hall Nov 20
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                         I’m Gonna Tell Santa Claus on You!

                                            Nora and Theo

The children scamper across my grassy lawn
And bring me wiggly worms to identify
Big acorns to admire, lemons fallen weeks before
Sticks and leaves, pinecones, flowers, and bits of bark

They lose their shoes and socks beneath the oak
They drink from the water hose and don’t turn it off
They chase the dog and the dog chases them
They shriek out joyfully because they can

I growl that if I mow another bit of brick
I’m gonna tell ol’ Santa Claus on them

They laugh at me, and bring me another worm
Please know that I am on the ViaSat / Verizon / Directv / Netgear axis of frequent lack of service. I never ignore correspondence, but in the mornings my InterGossip works very slowly at best and the evenings even more slowly and increasingly not at all. Responding to you may take some time.
Lawrence Hall Nov 20
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                        The Gates of Kiev are Now Smoke-Poisoned Skies

The Gates of Kiev are now only the skies
Drone-battered-bombed by the Siloviki
Against the peace of churches and sunflower fields
Workers and scholars and pastoral scenes

The Gates of Kiev once opened to all the world
Musicians, artists, builders, priests, and poets
Departed as missionaries to every land
Civilization from the Kievan Rus’

But now

The Gates of Kiev are smoke-poisoned skies
Through which foul Satan falls upon Slavic lands
"Those who will not study history..."

The arguments made again Ukraine defending itself from a murderous dictatorship are the same ones made against Britain for standing alone against ******.
Lawrence Hall Nov 19
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

            Dump ‘Em into the Mixmaster and Stir-Whir-into-a Blur

Americans
iconic
cannot
icon
write
bombshell
without
axe to grind
employing
the knives are out
tiresome
gunning for
old
fwiw
metaphors
business-as-usual


Battleground states
Eye-watering
scores to settle
Cringe
Bloodthirsty
Guru
Meltdown
Woke
Wardrobe malfunction
Green light
Eviscerate
Breaks cover
Breaks silence
Jaw-dropping
Took __ by storm

Dump ‘em into the magical metaphorical Mixmaster® and stir, stir, whirrrrr…
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