Clea,

Life had a story for you, from the first page you started.

Please, don't shed a tear, it's not your fault you departed.

Fate had a hand to play in the bed that you lay.

He tore us away in a moment of grace.

In rebellion, that smile not once, left your beautiful face.

Clea, visit me, please?

When I'm curled up in bed,
asleep, let your spirit rest on my chest.

Gently let me know, that I'm not alone.

That there is something left?

VACUUM CLEANER TANGO

---Lyrics by Jonathan Caswell

(Some misspellings are due to rhythm keeping)



The Vac…cuum Clea…ner Tango,

Is like…a juicy…mango,

Those fi…bers will…entangle

Your teeth or brushes, pretty quick!



The girls…who do…the cleaning,

Are ev…ver so…well-meaning,

To move…around…guys leaning,

That watch…and approve…the show!



Plugs must…be changed…more frequently,

If lon…ger hallways…decently,

Are cleaned…the most…expediently,

It’s all…a part of…the dance!



The vac…cuum clea…ner tango,

A dai…ly chore…is wrangled,

By clea…ners star…spangled,

Perfor…ming it with…extra class!

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

In a Second-Hand Copy of Durrell’s Clea:
A School Photograph of a Little Girl

She has obviously been commanded to smile
And so she projects a dutiful grin
But she seems to be a happy child anyway
Proud of her new red shirt with polka-dots

We send our children to school to learn to read
To add, subtract, multiply, and divide into groups
For P.E. class, to line up nicely for lunch
To pass notes, giggle, and plant seeds in eggshells

We don’t know how this child’s image found its way
To an Alexandria that never really was

Words that fell so...easily
...now stalled within my mouth.
Our static/electric/con-nec-tion
...faint and all but ground.ed.out.
Violet/crimson/tangerine
...whitewashed to simple gray.
The tension of.the.wanting
...slackened-slip-knot...
given; way.
My head is above^ground^again
...My feet treaded/your/way
Now that you've chosen...n o t h in g
...only scattered letters
....left...to...claim.
The spell...has been/b/r/o/k/e/n.
...You made your point-of-pain;...
you,...so convinced 'defeat and ruin'
...the only outcomes gained.
Your reasons and your why's
{You so clea(n)r-ly cling to fear}
There's a calm...you've...found
....in-holding-on to old love and/old/tears.
Although I tend/to/let/slip ONLY
..what's been torn from my clenched F ist S.
I realize in my heart-break-moment
There.... is.a.certain//...
...Mercy...
...found.../in/this.

They say that


            Everything can wait


                      But why couldn't you?