Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

                 Building a Fence and Smoking Cigarettes

I passed two men who were building a fence
Cigarettes on their lips, work-stained old hats
Spirit level, carpenter square, calculations
The morning frost hard-worked into honest sweat

I passed two men who were building a fence
Its posts and rails strong-muscled into place
And hammered against the autumn hurricanes
With nails of steel, extruded steel, bright steel

I passed two men who were building a fence
With hands and tools and strength and uncommon sense

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

       What Face Mask is Appropriate for an Evening Wedding?

Color-coordinating your face mask
Matching it to the tie, belt, socks, or shoes
Is now a fashion challenge in taste, a task
Good hygiene in bright reds or subdued blues

Is this mask for the bride’s side, or the groom’s
And is the reception a barbecue
Or dancing through a mansion’s stately rooms
A truly masked ball with a harbor view

The only real problem in fitting a mask –
Does it make my face look wide? That’s all I ask!

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

                                A Flaneur in Old Khakis

A rustic dilettante, all ready to flirt
In his old khakis and a chambray shirt
Old boots, old gloves, a mattock or rake to wield
A boulevardier of row crops in the field

He tips his old straw hat to the morning sun
Considers the corn silks’ latest fashion for fun
Discusses pitch and tone with a passing breeze
And notes the colours in the apple trees

The latest songs and jokes he very well knows
And shares the latest gossip with clever crows
This rare sophisticate whose sidewalk cafes’
Are nature’s dreamy scenes along nature’s ways

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

                     Citizen Potato Head is a Class Enemy

         “A mister no more: Mr. Potato Head goes gender neutral”

              -Mr. Potato Head receives gender neutral name,
                                drops title (usatoday.com)

“Mr.” indeed! No, no, Citizen Potato Head!
Bourgeois titles are forbidden by law
As are toys lacking in social realism
Clearly you are no good Comrade of ours

Lower your eyes in shame, Citizen Potato Head!
Your periderm, your lenticels, your pith
Your reactionary apical buds and lenticles
Your counter-revolutionary vascular ring

Your heteronormative attitude -
All condemn you – and there can be no a-peel!

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

                               A Cup of Tea in the Hand,
                       a Pointless Neologism on the Lips

                “Tea is one of the mainstays of civilisation”

                 -George Orwell, “A Nice Cup of Tea,” 1946

In the afternoon (and you can look this uppa)
I don’t want a teafluencer; I want a cuppa

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

                                      Are You a Brand?

I’m not a brand either; I enjoy no fame
No lines of this or that stamped with my name
A doghouse is the only thing I’ve designed
And the dogs weren’t much interested in it

The morning sun rises without my brand
And when wild clouds I didn’t design roll in
I don’t receive a percentage as raindrops fall
And own no copyright in the dreary day

I’m not a brand; the stars are cool with that
And Father Zosima tells us that truth is enough

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

                                 Welcome to Stoplight, Texas

             Shopping * Fine Dining * Antiques * Friendly Folks
       Annual Ye Olden Days Friendly Frontier Cowboy Festival
        Visit the Friendly World-Famous Parking Meter Museum
          We’re Your Friendly Hometown Family of New Friends

Closed No Restrooms Restricted Hours Dining Room
Closed Lobby Closed Road Closed Drive-Thru Only
Line Forms Here One at a Time Cash Only
Road Closed No Restrooms Restricted Hours

Dining Room Closed Lobby Closed Road Closed Drive-
Thru Only Line Forms Here One at a Time
Cash Only Closed No Restrooms Restricted Hours
Dining Room Closed Lobby Closed Road Closed

Cash Only Closed No Restrooms Restricted
Hours Dining Room Closed Lobby Closed, Closed, Closed

                           Y’ALL COME BACK SOON!

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

                          Teeth are Curious Constructions

Molars for grinding
Bicuspids behinding
Incisors for wheat
Canines for meat
And for all your teeth
Above or beneath
Keep them neat
For kisses sweet!

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

                      When You are Chosen as Poet Laureate

Do you suppose someday you’ll see your name
In the content pages of an Oxford book
An Oxford book of verse for this or that
Among the greats (who will want your autograph)

Do you suppose someday you'll see your name
Across the top of Amazon.com
The poet of the week, the month, the year
Or, Heaven knows, the poet of the century

But if not, write anyway - you’ll hear your name
Whispered among the pages of Paradise

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

                                     Transacting Genres

A plucky heroine library spy
Paris during the German occupation
Who falls in love with a mysterious soul
In search of life’s meaning that winter in Madrid

An empowering iconic game-changer
Must-read that weaves a trail-blazing tapestry
As passion explodes across the pages
In a forbidden path of something or other

And like reviewers, while all of Europe is ablaze
She sells shop-soiled literary cliches