N.  N is for neurologist.  
What does the neurologist say?
“Nothing seems to be wrong.
Your net recall seems normal.
You seem to remember most nouns and the news.
Nothing serious,
No need to worry.”

I don’t quite remember driving here.
This is Bethesda, right?
And your name is…?

P.  P is for psychologist.
The P. is silent.
So is the psychologist.
I talk and talk.
My energy level is high today,
even though I got no sleep last night.  
I want to write a poem and run a partial marathon.
I love people.
People are so beautiful.
“Only connect,” said E.M. Forster.
Am I talking too much?
How does that make me feel?
Just great!  Not like yesterday,
when I wanted to jump into the Potomac
from Key Bridge.
P is also for Potomac.
The psychologist speaks.
I need a new pill.

E. E is for endocrinologist.
What does the endocrinologist say?
“Eat. You’re an enigma.
You are losing weight.
We don’t know why.
We’ve checked everything
and can’t find evidence
of enemies in your endocrine system.
Enjoy some eclairs, eggplant, eggs benedict.
Life is short, endulge!  
Hopefully not too short.

O. O is for oncologist.
Oh.
Oh oh.

i only started collecting a library, because, would you believe it, my local library was a pauper in rags and tatters; apologies for omitting necessary diacritic marks, the whiskey was ******* on icecubes to a shrivel.*

ernest hemingway, e.m. forster, mary shelley,
aesop, r. l. stevenson, jean-paul sartre,
jack kerouac, sylvia plath, evelyn waugh,
chekhov, cortazar, freud, virginia woolf,
philip k. ****, dostoyevsky, aleksandr solzhenitsyn,
oscar wilde, malcolm x, kafka, nabokov,
bukowski, sacher-masoch, thomas a kempis,
yevgeny zamyatin, alexandre dumas,
will self, j. r. r. tolkien, richard b. bentall,
james joyce, william burroughs, truman capote,
herman hesse, thomas mann, j. d. salinger,
nikos kazantzakis, george orwell,
philip roth, joseph roth, bulgakov, huxley,
marquis de sade, john milton, samuel beckett,
huysmans, michel de montaigne, walter benjamin,
sienkiewicz, rilke, lipton, harold norse,
alfred jarry, miguel de cervantes, von krafft-ebing,
kierkegaard, julian jaynes, bynum porter & shephred,
r. d. laing, c. g. jung, spinoza, hegel, kant, artistotle,
plato, josephus, korner, la rochefoucauld, stendhal,
nietzsche, bertrand russell, irwin edman,
faucault, anwicenna, descartes, voltaire, rousseau,
popper,  heidegger, tatarkiewicz, kolakowski,
seneca, cycero, milan kundera, g. j. warnock,
stefan zweig, the pre-socratics, julian tuwim,
ezra pound, gregory corso, ted hughes,
guiseppe gioacchino belli, dante, peshwari women,
e. e. cummings, ginsberg, will alexander, max jacob,
schwob, william blake, comte de lautreamont,
jack spicer, zbigniew herbert, frank o'hara,
richard brautigan, miroslav holub, al purdy,
tzara, ted berrigan, fady joudah, nikolai leskov,
anna kavan, jean genet, albert camus, gunter grass,
susan hill, katherine dunn, gil scott-heron,
kleist, irvine welsh, clarice lispector, hunter thompson,
machado de assisi, reymont, tolstoy, jim bradbury,
norman davies, shakespeare, balzac, dickens,
jasienica, mary fulbrook, stuart t. miller,
walter la feber, jan wimmer, terry jones & alan ereira,
kenneth clark, edward robinson, heinrich harrer,
gombrowicz, a. krawczuk, andrzej stasiuk, ivan bunin,
joseph heller, goethe, mcmurry, atkins & de paula,
bernard shaw, horace, ovid, virgil, aeschyles,
rumi, omar khayyam, humbert wolfe, e. h. bickersteth,
asnyk, witkacy, mickiewicz, slowacki, lesmian,
lechon, lep szarzynski, victor alexandrov, gogol,
william styron, krasznahorkai, robert graves,
defoe, tim burton, antoine de saint-exupery,
christiane f., salman rushdie, hazlitt, marcus aurelius,
nick hornby, emily bronte, walt whitman,
aryeh kaplan, rolf g. renner, j. p. hodin, tim hilton... etc.

To be chanted whenever the O Machine 1 fails:

Rumor has it that the Enigma
Was to Churchill a foul stigma

And that the ancient, creaking Babbage
It was to him but so much cabbage

Colossus One and Colossus Two
Those gadgets too he began to rue

They say he let them rust and rot -
The pity is that he did not


(I checked with the Lizard People on this – Churchill’s secret Second World War computers, powered by a primordial Lemurian source of energy so dangerous that even speaking its name in the ancient language of the Atlanteans is said to be fatal, are secured in a locked vault on Oak Island and guarded around the clock (set to Martian time) by the Trilateral Masonic-Vatican Continuum of deadly albino flying fish.)

1 E.M. Forster, “The Machine Stops,” 1909, Much-anthologized

This car was Professor Forster's of the Christian system.
Unexpected biodiversity, first time, break time,
friendly life, first powder, ******, sophism,
smile, ingredients, cool frost, teddy bear, t-shirt;
Noah's worries, love, hilly hill,
mountains, bird flu, green, black and black.
The first number of beautiful characters falls
in black spots. Native English, speaking English
in William William in many ways,
cannot control black body features.
There are three cities in the city
and three sisters in the White Cities.
At night, my son, the dragon is red,
my life has lost a Russian girl in a world without corruption.
In the eighth year of the aircraft, aircraft eyes,
drinking water, birds and animals were used
for heavy aircraft. Mountain hills are the glory
of the mountain, the sacraments of the prophets
and darkness; Comments - William William's beautiful
mother William William died in English, and was afraid
of a lot of things like Asia-Pacific, black and white.
The new gear was made in 3 steps
and was sent to the city. At night, my son,
the dragon is red, my life has lost a Russian girl
in a world without corruption. The parent program
finds the same plane or black, white and white girl.
Star Stars star stars Sun Star Tara Tara always
changes the sun, royal roots and three romantic
citizens of truth. Romantic romantic romantic
romantic romantic; "Maya's house, which in the Middle Ages
wants to find spirituality, Julia is a small Latin lake,
Jesus dress, applause, Amy, wall, strike, instrument,
literature, giraffe, behavior," "word, tree,"
modern contemporary literature Jupiter, for example.
Dragon N Sky Sky Sky, Ritter B warns of unique
neurotransmitters, a delicate soft secret,
a dream of dreams, sandwich sandwiches,
basically an ijaqaela prophet leaves and loses an angel and gum.
This car is Professor Forster of Christian theology.
Different unexpected events, first days, holidays,
friendships, the first spot, ******, sophism, humor,
food, cool air, teddy meat, shirt; Noah's anxiety,
love, mountains, mountains, injuries, green, black and black.
The first number of beautiful manuscripts
fell on the black. Native English, English
and William William in many ways,
cannot control physical characteristics.
There are three cities in the city
and three sisters in White Cities.
At night, my son, the red dragon,
my life has killed a Russian woman
in the world without a defect.
In the eighth year of the plane,
airplane, eyes, drinking water,
birds and animals use heavy cargo.
The mountainous mountains
are the glory of the mountains,
the sacramental of prophets
and darkness;
Report - William William's beautiful mother
William William died in English,
and she feared many things like Asia
and the Pacific black and white.
The new machinery is used in 3 and sent to the city.
At night, my son, the red dragon,
my life has killed a Russian woman
in the world without a defect.
The parents' way of seeing a plane
or black and white baby. Star Star star Sun Star
Tarot and Tara are changing the sun,
the royal roots and three indigenous facts.
Romantic romantic
romantic romantic romantic; "The ancient
Maya buildings seek to find spirituality,
Julia is in a small Latin pool,
Jesus' garment, boxing, Amy, walls, armor,
weapons, literature, farm, practice," "words,
plants, "for example, Jupiter. Dragon N the Sky
Sky Sky, Ritter B warns of specialized online
observers secrets are soft, dream dreams
of sandwiches sandwiches, which is that
the prophet is going to go to war
and an angel is lost.

Gobbing and thrashing
       To Jello Biafra,
Before your damascene conversion into
        Something from Kafka,
The feminist utopia -
        A left wing theocracy,
You should have read Forster's
   Two Cheers for Democracy,
With red dead Cortez
      In her little white coat,
Where only lunatics and women
     Bother to vote.
The boys get a mantra
    A three syllable jingle,
The reason he topped himself?
    The reason you're single?

You were an actor and your death has caused remorse.
You starred in 'Me, Myself and Irene' and 'Delta Force'.
I became your fan at the age of eight when you starred in 'The Black Hole'.
Some people hated that movie but I like it and your death has taken its toll.
You guest starred in 'Magnum P.I., '******, She Wrote' and 'Walker, Texas Ranger'.
You had a  ton of fans who you never met but in their eyes, you weren't a stranger.
When you starred in 'Jackie Brown', you were nominated for an Oscar.
Because of your talent, you were destined to be a wonderful movie star.
You starred in the 1998 remake of '******' and 'Small Town Crime'.
Because of your charisma, you'll be remembered until the end of time.

Larkin
quoted Forster's
"Only connect..." at an
inept boxing match. Was either
correct?

Let's come together against CANCER!
Let there be a stand still
The world be rendered silent for a moment
Three second to fill
For a short kind benevolent
Because we really have to feel
Our fallen heroes to comment
Cancer brought this world a threat
That which is a not one man fight
It came in all filth
Pain untold
Torture and suffering
This ailment is poison
Whose antidote we fight to get
Let's join HANDS
Let's go firm together
We need a global unity
To aid Forster for one hidden secret
The secret to **** this enemy
This sole enemy we call it cancer
It has won over us for long
Enough is enough we say today
We are fed up
We are tired,aren't we?
We won't stand any lose again
We won't settle for less this time
We are up to fight
And we are fighting together as one
For in our might, we gonna defeat cancer
Whatever the kind or type
Known to us or unknown
Cancer's territories this time down we bring
And burning it to ashes a must.

Kirui Frank junior
Kenya,I am fighting cancer in my all might!
Join me please!

items

title - author - (read / unread)

songs of war
and peace -
afghan women's poetry
                                              edited by sayd bahodine majrouh
                                              (yes)
the cantos of
ezra pound
                                              ezra pound
                                              (pending)

th­e unbearable
lightness of being      
                                               milan kundera
                                               (yes, albeit
                                                given to someone)

the man in the
high castle
                                                philip k. ****
                                                (yes, "
                                                          " " ")

do androids dream
of electric sheep                            
                                                          "

men­ without women
                                                 ernest hemingway
                                                 (yes)

a moveable feast
                                                  ernest   ­      "
                                                  (yes)

for whom the bell tolls
                                                  ernest   ­       "
                                                  (parti­ally, university
                                                   assignment)

a passage to india
                                                   e. m. forster
                                                   (no, i prefer the actual cuisine,
                                                    dash­ of cinnamon, cumin
                                                    cloves, cardamon and i just
                                                    read: a short-cut to india)

the outsider
                                                    albert camus
                                                    (yes, lost the book somewhere)

frankenstein
                                                    mary shelley
                                                    (yes)

aesop­'s fables
                                                     aesop
                                                     (yes, good enough
                                                      for zeno to
                                                      paradox achilles
                                                      with the turtle, i.e.
                                                      aesop'­s fables
                                                      were primarily based
                                                      on the behaviour of animals)

dr. jeckyl & mr. hyde
                                                      r. l. stevenson
                                                      (­no, a literary
                                                       version of the beatles'
                                                       yesterday, conjuring
                                                       for money anyway)

iron in the soul
                                                        jean­-paul sartre
                                                        (t­he other two titles
                                                         of the human comedy
                                                         i don't remember;
                                                       ­  i have all respect for
                                                         sartre the novelist -
                                                         but none as a philosopher)

treasure island
                                                          r. l. stevenson
                                                       ­   (yes)

i'm the king of the castle
                                                          ­susan hill
                                                          (y­es)

jane eyre
                                                           charlotte brontë
                                                          ­ (yes)

on the road
                                                           jack kerouac
                                                         ­  (yes)

the bell jar
                                                           sylvia plath
                                                           (yes)

fiesta: the sun also rises
                                                           ernest hemingway
                                                           (yes)

the ordeal of gilbert pinfold
                                                           evelyn waugh
                                                           (yes)

five plays
                                                           chekov
                                                           (stuck to shakespeare
                                                            and russian
                                                            existential macabre)

the existential imagination
                                                            edited by frederick
                                                            r. karl & leo hamalian
                                                            (yes, esp. the extract
                                                             about socrates)

This pioneer was Professor of Forensic Medicine Professor Forster before sending a plan for Christian birth. Waiting for the Unfortunate Biology, First Time, Time of Breath, The Magic of Living, The First Smoke, ***** Sophia, Star Gossip, Cool Shadow, Teddy Boy, Shirt, Hard N Cute, Love, Tribal Killer Mountain, Mount Evian, bird flu, beautiful olive oil kills new water, learns from the distance from death, the list of the dead, play and motivation sheets, the angry, dark, dark car rage. Black smoke teeth of the original number of beautiful characters. William's mother, mother of the United States English-speaking William Wilhelm, many life-threatening Asian products and so on; cannot control the physical characteristics of the Black Sea. There are many women and three siblings working in three cities in the White City. At night my son, the red dragon, holy, my life is lost to the Russian girl in the corrupt and sovereign world. The eighth year of the aircraft was the first time the airplanes, eyes, drinking water, birds and animals were planed on airplanes or heavy aircraft. In the mountains is the glory of the mountains, the sacredness of the prophets and the darkness in the darkness are not common. Letters - William William's beautiful mother, William William died in English and scared many things like the Asia-Pacific, Black and White. The new kit took 3 steps and was taken to the city. At night my son, the red dragon, holy, my life is lost to the Russian girl in the corrupt and sovereign world. Parents education program likes the same aircraft or super-plane, black and white girl. Big, beautiful young woman with great music on the turntable banner, big yellow banana star star star gold star star star star golden star change seasons sky blue sky wealth of the sea sun something always alive lifelike Christ at the heart of the royal rosetta tables and his three Legends of Three Romantic Romantic Romantic Romances; Three Romance Romantic Homes Want to Look For Home In The Middle Ages Looking for Spirituality. Julia is a Little Indoor Land of Latin Jupiter Jesus' Open Robe, Number of Women; We, Gordon, Amy, Wall, Strike, Piece of Glass; Lines of Literature, Giraffe, Nature Study, "Young Emperor", "Word", "Tree" Modern, medieval literature such as National Dragons. Richter B Central Conference Run Waiting for the Sky Dark Sky Gospel warning, earthquake, Christian woman, first, dishonest China, coaches, amateur, unforgettable England, animals, dogs, summer, Europe, heat, sea, heat, feet, stone, solo, neurotransmitters, conscience. Dream Society Dreams of the Society about the dreams of funny pink deities. Thanks to Sandwich's modern sandwiches, the prophet Ezekiel leaves the leaves and leaves with the help of angels and plastic. the only person

from the room the distant seas
resounded and compounded
filled the space till all I heard
were waters crashed and pounded

and Nietzsche utters Superman
and “God is a conjecture”
Zarathustra keeps on speaking
of the figs in every lecture

pulling the ears of Italy
and drawing the eyes of England
except Lucy who in her heart has found
a potion of a new blend

My, my
Beautiful mornings. And wet grass -
Oh, hello you lot! You fabulous lot!
Lying in 'til noon in your soot-washed townhouses
Tall, pumping chimney smog and fruit stained letters into the London sky,
I see you - Miss Vanessa, Miss Woolf, Forster, Fry!
How we all swarm about this little town now!
Look how I eat pomegranates and write prose in your name.
Look how I put on sturdy boots, and totter from square to square -
Admiring this honeyed writer's air.
Oh, evening all, lights of London, subdued spring-time!
Eucalyptus suburbs, just a short walk from bedlam and grime.

Do you know who I am?
I am a poet
And E.M. Forster said before that
The poets are right
Love is eternal
But if we ended I can only suppose
                                         You
                                                       And
                                                             ­            I
Were a wrong combination
A key attached to a lock that cannot be opened
A coat in summer
A pumpkin spice latte in April
A name tattooed on your heart that doesn't mean anything anymore
An iceberg in a bathtub
A bird in the sea
A whale in the clouds
Someone by my side

Or

Your mouth attached to my soul
My eyes glued to your body
And all the love that circulated between our twenty fingers
When they graze each other with the care you only use with a new born
When they grip so tightly you would think the Earth is F  
                                                                ­                                     A
                                                               ­                                         L
                      ­                                                                 ­                     L
                                          ­                                                                 ­     I
                                                          ­                                                         N
                                                               ­                                                         G
And the only way to stay grounded is to hold on to each other
I was your anchor and nothing about that felt wrong
And the way my heart beat when you were around felt so right
But your back is to me because if
The poets are right and
Love is eternal
You would still be holding my hand
For eternity

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

                                 Coffee Shop Darwinians

          “We’ll set a fine, new, well-oiled machine in place
            of the old one and this time we’ll put the Normans
            into it instead. That’s what justice means, isn’t it?”

                                        -Saxon Monk in Becket

No, of course it didn’t have to happen
We’re not campus coffee shop Darwinians
Determined that five innocents needed to die
Within the gears of our new, well-oiled machine

And that more should come, chanting “O Machine!” 1
“Follow the Science!” and “Learn. To. Code!”
As they sacrifice themselves to a Tweeter-sanctioned
Infestation of Manifest Destiny

And I’ve got a feeling, as you might agree:
No one on either side quotes Dostoyevsky


1 “The Machine Stops,” E. M. Forster

If life was fair would we all not be perfect
Dressed in tight clothes and most of them too revealing, with
chains that hang low and tattoos with deeper meanings
If we were perfect than I promise, life would be fair

The eyes of your foes can see through the walls
You're not alone in your skin, you're not as free as before
So you shape your identity to meet their desires
Would we all not be perfect if life was fair?

You change your walk and the way that you talk
You smile alone, you change your appearance, your
hair, your clothes, the way you stand. I promise you
that their love for you is a figment of your imagination

You could climb a mountain or **** it's lions
Sail the sea or swim in it's oceans
You can walk a mile or even a thousand
Whoever you're trying to impress doesn't bare any ***** for you

If life was fair, we'd all be perfect, however,
if you seek perfection then I know
your identity is shaped by how others view you

Do not our imperfections make us perfect

If life was fair
then what would be the use of living.

Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com

                       The Machine Pauses (and then Restarts)

Within a Dark-Lit Egg

Mechanical Air
Mechanical Light
Electronic Beepings
Procrustes is a Short, Bitter Man Who Doesn’t Like Anyone

Mechanical Air
On the day Papa Benedict died
I lived
And so prayed with him
As the electronics beeped in the new year

Mechanical Light
A crucifix on the wall faded away
And gas was silent in a tube
And when the haze was gone
The crucifix was still there

Electronic Beepings
BeepBEEPBEEPBLEEP beep                 beep
beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep
I turned to my wristwatch
But it was dead

Procrustes is a Short, Bitter Man Who Doesn’t Like Anyone
Tubes in both arms, and arms must not be bent
Hard plastic bubbles beneath weary sheets
A plastic paddle of obscure call buttons
There is no time within no time

All made better

Heilige Elisabeth von Thuringen
And those who serve with her
Quiet voices beyond the door, beside the bed
Soft footfalls hastening to come to us
With baskets from the Lord’s table



(Cf. The Machine Stops, E.M. Forster)

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

                         Cavafy’s Slight Angle to the Universe

          “…a Greek gentleman in a straw hat, standing absolutely
          motionless at a slight angle to the universe.”

      -C. S. Forster re C. P. Cavafy, quoted by Daniel Mendelsohn
            in C. P. Cavafy: Poems, Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets

Maybe Cavafy stands at an angle to the world
The universe presumably built aright
In order serviceable, as Milton says,
All of creation as a liturgy

We all stand at an angle to the world
Which wobbles in its orbit more than it ought
We altar servers tripping more than we ought
When we forget the angle of Consecration

Oh, yes, Cavafy stands at an angle to the world
And he is right to do so –
                                                   and so are we

‘And what are five miles from a station in these days of bicycles?’
-E.M. Forster, A Room With A View

Nothing cracks the rigid heart up
more easily than a microchip
in the cucumber sandwiches
and a lick of dubstep can really ruin
a lawn party in a Merchant Ivory flick.  
My mother was sure Ratzinger
resigned the papacy because they were making him
update his Twitter feed too often.
Some of the saddest moments of Bonaparte’s life
came while reading
Pierre-Simon Laplace.
Time itself is an adjustment.
Do you know, for instance,
Katharine Hepburn, on the set of Suddenly, Last Summer,
refused to believe there was such a thing
as a homosexual?
Mankiewicz, born to Jewish immigrants,
must have learned diplomacy early on.
His line:
Belief isn’t necessary
if you can act like you believe.
This— here—
is the sharp edge of nostalgia.
The cowpuncher pining for a white Alabama.
How the man who broke his wife’s jaw longs
for his wife to come home.
It’s hard to pity them, I know.
But if compassion’s worth anything
we ought at least to try.
The light has upped a notch.
Their rigid hearts
repine like window-blinds.
These days of bicycles have made
no new truths
but they say that things are clearer now.
By what’s reflected up from water,
in the caverned underside of leaves,
we see Freddy Honeychurch and Mr. Emerson jumping
pale and bare-arsed into The Sacred Lake;  
the Reverend Mr. Beebe
circling their young,
wet bodies like a paunchy moon.

This car was a professor of scientific research, Professor Forster, before sending a Christian faith plan. Unexpected Biodiversity, First Time, Breathing Time, Friendship Life, First Smoke, ***** Sophia, Smiling Content, Cool Cool, Teddy, Shirt, Noah's Problem, Love, Killer Across Hill, Mountain Hills, Bird Flu has killed new waters, learns about death, sports and motivation, beat, black, dark. Gusts with black smoke in the original number of beautiful signs. Mother William, a native English speaker who speaks English in William William, a lot of lifestyle in Asia, cannot control the body's black characteristics. There are women and three brothers working in three cities in White City. At night, my son, the dragon is red, my life is lost to a Russian girl in a world without corruption. The eighth year of the airplane was the first time airplanes, eyes, drinking water, birds and animals were planned for heavy fighter planes. In the hills of the mountains are the glory of the mountains, the holiness of the prophets and of the darkness; Notes - William William, the beautiful mother of William William, died in English and was afraid of many things such as Asia-Pacific, Black and White. The new equipment has taken 3 steps and delivered it to the city. At night, my son, the dragon is red, my life is lost to a Russian girl in a world without corruption. The parenting program enjoys the same aircraft or a black, white and white girl. A beautiful woman with a big music star on the star star, a great star star, the star of the gold star is changing the dark sunlight of sunshine at all times and the truth in Christ in the royal rosetta and the three Citizens of three romantic romantic romantic romances romance romance; "A the home of love that wants to search in the Middle Ages seeking spirituality, Julia is a small lake in Latin Jupiter, The Clothes of Jesus, the Gossip, Amy, Wall, Strike, Instrumentation; Literature, Giraffe, Behavior, "Early", "Word", "Tree" Modern, modern literature, such as " Dragons National "Richter B of the Sky Sky Sky warns Sky, solo neurotransmitters, consciousness of dreams of delicate soft deaf gods. Thanks to sandwich sandwich sandwiches, the Ezekiel prophet leaves the leaves and leaves with the help of angel and rubber. Only someone ...