#helicopters - Hello Poetry

courting the sun after a cool June in my vintner's garden close to the southern border carefully sipping his latest selection a good year you can taste it looking out from the hill across the river valley I listen to his children proudly telling how only yesterday they filled 50 sandbags just in case the deafening roar of an interceptor jet splits the air just for seconds leaves my wine glass trembling three helicopters slash their way south and come back later over the winding road on the next hill the last tank of the column disappears we can hear not far away over there sounds like explosions we enjoy the sun Helmut opens another one of his treasured bottles and tells me what he will do if They come across he is a good hunter and an excellent shot I sip the clear wine watch how the sunlight lends its brilliance to the half-filled glass I feel a little bit like Humphrey Bogart in the wrong movie.

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Mar 17, 2015

Mar 17, 2015 at 9:23 AM UTC

wwhoelbling

wine country

courting the sun after a cool June in my vintner's garden close to the southern border carefully sipping his latest selection a good year you can taste it looking out from the hill across the river valley I listen to his children proudly telling how only yesterday they filled 50 sandbags just in case the deafening roar of an interceptor jet splits the air just for seconds leaves my wine glass trembling three helicopters slash their way south and come back later over the winding road on the next hill the last tank of the column disappears we can hear not far away over there sounds like explosions we enjoy the sun Helmut opens another one of his treasured bottles and tells me what he will do if They come across he is a good hunter and an excellent shot I sip the clear wine watch how the sunlight lends its brilliance to the half-filled glass I feel a little bit like Humphrey Bogart in the wrong movie.

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Lawrence Hall 3d A Poem is not a Helicopter Lawrence Hall [email protected] https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/ poeticdrivel.blogspot.com A Poem is not a Helicopter For Al Duquette A helicopter is not a poem A helicopter flies in three dimensions If all of the systems are fitted just right Otherwise, it does not fly at all A poem is not a helicopter A poem flies only metaphorically If we rearrange the parts aesthetically The poem might fly much better than before One carries our friends wherever they want to go The other carries our love to our friends More exposition than I have ever written: Al is my fellow volunteer in prison and was one of my mentors when I began. I am in awe of him because he flew helicopters with the Air Cavalry in Viet-Nam and then offshore with Petroleum Helicopters Incorporated. He is almost obsessively left-brained in all things and I am an old hippie so we are often on two different metaphorical channels. After some mutual suspicion we came to the realization – because the prisoners pointed it out to us - that in working with a class together we communicate the same ideas in different ways, and so are more effective. Al sees no point in poetry, although he appreciates the little poems I hand out to the lads as class openers. I think this is because they (the poems, not the prisoners) are short and simple, almost always rhyme, and are mostly Victorian parlour poems which contain a moral lesson and encouragement. This week, while waiting for the guards to bring us the fellows, Al said that prose is made of words and poetry is made of words and in both categories we choose the most effective words, and so what makes a difference. I replied that a poem is not a helicopter, that not all the bits have to fit together in only one way. Prose is indeed a matter of the right words in the right places but that a poem is a matter of even better words placed in even better places (This is not an original thought; I don’t remember where I learned it.). Al accepted my answer, but of course maybe he was merely being polite! Written by Lawrence Hall

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Sep 20, 2022

Sep 20, 2022 at 3:24 PM UTC

lawrence-hall

A Poem is not a Helicopter - 2nd attempt at posting

Lawrence Hall 3d A Poem is not a Helicopter Lawrence Hall [email protected] https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/ poeticdrivel.blogspot.com A Poem is not a Helicopter For Al Duquette A helicopter is not a poem A helicopter flies in three dimensions If all of the systems are fitted just right Otherwise, it does not fly at all A poem is not a helicopter A poem flies only metaphorically If we rearrange the parts aesthetically The poem might fly much better than before One carries our friends wherever they want to go The other carries our love to our friends More exposition than I have ever written: Al is my fellow volunteer in prison and was one of my mentors when I began. I am in awe of him because he flew helicopters with the Air Cavalry in Viet-Nam and then offshore with Petroleum Helicopters Incorporated. He is almost obsessively left-brained in all things and I am an old hippie so we are often on two different metaphorical channels. After some mutual suspicion we came to the realization – because the prisoners pointed it out to us - that in working with a class together we communicate the same ideas in different ways, and so are more effective. Al sees no point in poetry, although he appreciates the little poems I hand out to the lads as class openers. I think this is because they (the poems, not the prisoners) are short and simple, almost always rhyme, and are mostly Victorian parlour poems which contain a moral lesson and encouragement. This week, while waiting for the guards to bring us the fellows, Al said that prose is made of words and poetry is made of words and in both categories we choose the most effective words, and so what makes a difference. I replied that a poem is not a helicopter, that not all the bits have to fit together in only one way. Prose is indeed a matter of the right words in the right places but that a poem is a matter of even better words placed in even better places (This is not an original thought; I don’t remember where I learned it.). Al accepted my answer, but of course maybe he was merely being polite! Written by Lawrence Hall

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Helicopters keep Flying over my house for The past three week's nights

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Dec 24, 2016

Dec 24, 2016 at 8:46 PM UTC

breeze-mist

Helicopters

Helicopters keep Flying over my house for The past three week's nights

3