Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                              The InterGossip is a Content Cop

                    Number Six: I have a choice?
                    Number Two: Of course. You can do as you want.
                    Number Six: As long as it's what you want.
                    Number Two: As long as it is what the majority wants.

                                        -The Prisoner

The InterGossip is a content cop holding up her hand
Half in my face, half-way to a Fascist salute
Forbidding me to read or study any further
Without pledging loyalty to a community

The InterGossip is a content cop holding up her hand

If I want to keep reading, I must subscribe
The cost is access to my information…information…information
“You have read five of five free stories this month”
Which is their way of saying, “Your papers, comrade”

The InterGossip is a content cop holding up her hand

And if sometimes my words violate the standards
Of communities I never joined – white space

The InterGossip is a content cop holding up her hand

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

                            The InterGossip has Winked Out,
                              and Now Life Has No Meaning

The InterGossip is out, and so I quest
Among little plastic boxes that light up
As a coded series of spiky blue lamps
That might be signaling to other worlds

Cutting the power in turn to all the parts
Poking the innards with a paper clip
Like an archaeologist digging for truth
For the Ark of the Contract, or for the Grail

The InterGossip is found, and so I rest
In electric repose in this fallen screen

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim’s Journal of Life, Literature and Love
Fellowship & Fairydust (fellowshipandfairydust.com)
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

              Universal All-Purpose InterGossip Post Response
                       for The Year of Our Daily Mail 2022

Tinder box iconic cannon fodder
iconic clown show iconic clown circus
iconic clown car iconic clown train
iconic absolute clown show train iconic
he didn’t get the memo iconic
you had one job iconic I have no words
iconic new and selected iconic
subvert iconic at its best iconic
I’m getting the popcorn iconic much
iconic subversive iconic witch hunt
iconic fairy tale wedding iconic
unsung iconic what could possibly go wrong
iconic there, there fixed it for you iconic
FACT I’ll wait iconic oh, wait iconic
snake-oil salesman iconic taking the world
by storm iconic all aboard the crazy train
iconic you could google it iconic
tightknit community iconic worst
case scenario iconic Tinder box
iconic cannon fodder iconic
he didn’t get the memo iconic
you had one job iconic I have no words
iconic new and selected iconic
subvert iconic at its best iconic
much iconic subversive iconic
witch hunt iconic fairy tale wedding
iconic unsung iconic what could
possibly go wrong iconic there,
fixed it for you iconic FACT iconic
I’ll wait iconic oh, wait iconic
snake oil salesman iconic taking the world
by storm iconic you could google it
iconic tightknit community iconic
worst case scenario iconic end of
iconic quelle surprise iconic wheelhouse
iconic dog and pony show iconic
iconic in the crosshairs iconic
jaw dropping iconic supply chain iconic
decolonize iconic post-colonial
iconic neo-colonial iconic
just dropped iconic unshackled writers
iconic quagmire iconic not out of the woods
just wow iconic facepalm iconic
LOL iconic pulled out all the stops
iconic systematic racism iconic
systemic racism iconic structural
racism iconic RINO iconic
Demoncrat iconic Republicrap
iconic bombshell iconic game changer
iconic wow iconic just wow iconic
end of story iconic tight knit iconic
field day iconic perfect storm iconic
winter wonderland iconic

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                             Cancelling the InterGossip Service

And how are you today I am so very glad to hear that thank you sir you have paid today so we won’t be able to cancel the service until next month I am so glad to hear that we need a mailing address so that we can send you a box for the equipment thank you sir no a post office box won’t do I am sorry sir you are breaking up yes sir let me read that back to you thank you sir let me verify your account number that is correct and thank you I will need your zip code will you repeat that thank you but our records show that your service address is oh that is not it please tell me again thank you sir I will read it back to you thank you sir you will have thirty days from the twenty-seventh of next month to return the equipment in the box we will provide to you at your mailing address and I have that mailing address so thank you sir if you will wait two minutes while I access your file thank you sir and I will need your mailing address oh I see I have that sir for the equipment return thank you sir which will cost you $350 if it is not returned thank you sir and now I must read you this list now if you have any questions if you will please wait two minutes thank you sir and may I ask why you are discontinuing service and are you moving sir if you will wait two minutes while I update your records thank you sir and I have your mailing address and may I ask why you are discontinuing service with us oh I am so sorry sir but did they tell you it is fibre optic I understand sir before we go I want to advise you that because you are a long-time customer we have a special offer thank you sir I am happy to have helped you sir and I hope you have a good rest of the day

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                       If It’s On The InterGossip It Must Be True

At all costs much the gift that keeps on giving much now let’s see there was this little German man with the moustache now what was his name oh yeah much oh wait much breaks cover much everyone is saying jaw-dropping much I’m a professional this is what you need to know much what REALLY happened much is strong in this one much game changer much secret **** gold train found much Amelia Earhart found much Jimmy Hoffa’s false teeth found much Gilligan’s Island is a secret Chinese army base much Elvis’ secret diary found much Marilyn Monroe and Walt Disney’s secret affair much the secret cure doctors don’t want you to know much apocalyptic glamour much chilling much shock scandal much stuns Wall Street much iconic much absolutely shocked trans nepo baby much dictator’s playbook much outrage fake alarm shock bombshell worst dressed much Meghan & Harry much packs on the PDA hellhole much gender reveal steamy toned abs much breaks silence much oh wait much firebrand much game changer there I fixed it for you much *** meet kettle much stay in your lane much across the pond much lives rent-free in his head much potentially much just sayin’ much? powder keg much ticking time bomb much cue the whatever in 3…2…1…much iconic much biblical proportions much LOL much books banned from the Bible rediscovered much secrets of Alcatraz rediscovered much Russia’s amber room rediscovered much ***! much ptsd much jaw dropping jaw dropping jaw dropping jaw dropping jaw dropping much much much

Did Russians Hide Nukes in the U.S.A.?

The western sky is blue; the east is red
But try to put it right out of your head
If you find a Russian under your bed
Concealing a nuke that will **** you dead

The Intergossip surely must be right
So hit the keyboard now, and share the fright
On Social-Medium-Range all through the night
And type it really fast before…that LIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ding-****, the east is red, the west is blue
And ashes drift about, flake news, untrue

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

                                     ­         Communities

We often read about communities:

The intelligence community
The black community
The LGBT community
The arts community

Communities

The Hispanic community
The white community
The evangelical community
The educational community

Communities

One imagines a community:
Volunteer fire department, VFW
Parks, shops, a Methodist church across the street
From Our Lady of Guadalupe

Communities

But communities seem mostly to be
Lonely people stereotyping others
On the InterGossip with big ol’ words

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                         Those Who Stereotype “These Professors”

                                                   Exodus 20:16

These professors

Dr. Moriarty was a PFC on certain Pacific islands
Who could bayonet an enemy
Clear a jammed machine gun under fire
See his pals blown to pieces next to him
And work out subtle textual analyses

These professors

Dr. Chambers was a retired colonel of Marines
A natty little man in blazer and bowtie
Who could bayonet an enemy
See his pals blown to pieces next to him
Deconstruct the minutiae of energy distribution
And toss a foul-mouthed football player out on his sorry ***

These professors

Dr. Dale was a butcher until his thirties
When he entered college for the first time
He knew your hamburger from the outside in
The economics of building a business
He probably could have bench-pressed a Ford Fiesta
And when he spoke of Wordsworth, Keats, and Coleridge
You could feel the air of The Lake Country

These professors

“These professors” were complete men
Strong in war and word and wisdom and work
Unlike envious Unferths who learn life only second-hand
                    From Fox News and John Wayne movies
                    And closed loops of echoing InterGossip sites

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                                  You are Offline

Neither God nor the InterGossip seems to listen:
A question posed is answered with a sneer
Or a silence as cold as this late-autumn dusk
Or a relationship well into decay

No Exit 1

I fled it, down the minutes and down the hours 2
I fled it, from each InterGossip troll
I fled it, despairing, with weakening powers
But I could not escape the super bowl

1 No Exit, Jean Paul Sartre
2 “The Hound of Heaven,” Francis Thompson

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

              The Terrifying Creepy Chilling Iconic ******’s Lair

Some call it the ******’s lair, some the ******’s nest
Some call it a creepy lair
Some surely call it chilling and iconic
Because to InterGossip posters everything
Is chilling, iconic, jaw-dropping, and a bombshell

It’s just a sad, sagging old chain-link fence
With some sad old man’s wannabe G.I. ****
Army wannabe soldier-toys hanging from it
The Kalashjackov was real enough
The poor fool’s mind, not so much

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                            ­  Schrodinger’s Turtle

                    Don’t let a quantum mechanic work on your car

A cat on a fence post probably got there himself
And may be observed to be alive or dead
A turtle in a box is not on a shelf
“And I don’t know why,” the scientist said

“Meow,” the poor little cat cried out in dread



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 in the evenings even more slowly and increasingly not at all. Responding to you may take some time.

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com
Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                   But Mom, All the Cool Kids are into Genocide!

                       “Students! Be the Fuhrer’s Propagandists!”

          **** poster ca. 1933, per Library of Congress: [Studenten seid
          Propagandisten des Führers Hoch-u. Fachschulen bekennen
          sich am 29. März zur Deutschen Freiheitsbewegung /
          (loc.gov)]

All the cool kids are into genocide
Slogans and posters and bullhorns and cries
Abandoning their studies to march outside
And scream the same 2,000-year-old lies

The InterGossip commands, and they obey
Blocking the streets and clenching each fist
Waving misspelt signs and yelling all day
Never pausing to ask if there’s something they’ve missed

Am I a hollow echo for some sycophant’s squall?
Will I fail to think for myself at all?

The rain makes even concrete beautiful:
A drop, then two, and then a singing shower
Baptizing the pavement with little pools
That catch the lights and bounce them all about:

Street lights all golden, rippling up and down
And automobile lights slipping across
The other lights, interrupted by feet
Splashing and slipping all the wet way home

And you, dancing about in the puddles -
The rain makes even love more beautiful



(A brief look through the InterGossip does not show that “Rain Makes Even Concrete Beautiful” has been used as the title for a song or poem or other “spot of art” (as Bertie Wooster would say). If it has, please advise me so I can change it.)

Did the Russians Hide Nukes in Your Sock Drawer?

The western sky is blue; the east is red
But try to put it right out of your head
If you find a Russian under your bed
Concealing a nuke that will **** you dead

The Intergossip surely must be right
So hit the keyboard now, and share the fright
On Social-Medium-Range all through the night
And type it really fast before…that LIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ding-****, the east is red, the west is blue
And rumours drift about, flake news, untrue

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

                  For Training Purposes this Life May be Monitored

An examination of conscience is good
Thinking about things at the end of each day
Hail Marys mixed in with exasperation
Rough words that should never have been spoken

Reading casual cruelties on the InterGossip
Whatever God’s plan might be, that wasn’t it
Gratitude for work, gratitude for meals
Gratitude for peace at the end of the day

And as for the occasional bitter cup
Your Mother taught you right: offer it up

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

              Avon Man and the Mystery of His First-Best Bed

                   I gyve unto my wief my second best bed…

          -Attributed to Shakespeare in his will. Or Churchill. Or
          Milton. Or Elvis. Or Some Famous Man. And Shakespeare
          was secretly a Catholic. (No, he wasn’t.) (Yes, he was.) (No, he
          wasn’t.) (Yes, he was; I read it on the InterGossip.)

That second-best bed doesn’t matter a pop
Those anyones whoever slept in it are deads
Memorialized as dashboard bobbleheads
At Ye Olde Anne Hathawaye gifte shoppe

Kinge Richarde nevere cryede, “mye kyngdome fore ye bedde!”
Yea, goode olde Sirre Erpinghame joked, “Now lye I like a kynge”
So what’s the deale withe the firste-beste bedde thynge?
Thatte seconde bedde is where the Widowe rested hir hedde

Ande thusse ye scholares maken withouten cessatione
Unsupportede argumentes and allegationes

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                         Reliable InterGossip Service Providers

                            This one is dedicated to Spectrum

Don’t tell me that they are unreliable
All of my providers have been quite precise
Sure, the picture and sound are not often viable
But the bills are always on time – how nice!

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

      Self-Government in the United States with Tats and Extra Fries

                              “Here, sir, The People rule.”

                                 -Numerous attributions

I blame the Russians. And people who read books.
And that ******* in these here schools
The Navy SEALS is actually Lizard People
I only know what Q told me, okay?

I seen them suitcases of electoral votes
For the junior high cheerleading squad
It was stolen, I tell ya! Sarah Palin rocks!
It’s all in the Bible, you ******-freak

Secret U.N. observers occupy our town
And that is why the InterGossip’s down

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                           We Sat Outside and Smoked Our Pipes


                        He was my friend, faithful and just to me

                             -Marc Anthony in Julius Caesar


Even on the InterGossip whispers are whispers
Arrangements for end-of-life care, the funeral to plan
Who needs to be notified, who is not speaking
What about the cousins in Ohio?

In the whispering care home whispers are whispers
Polite ghostly whispers in the waiting area
(And unwhispered thoughts about who might get what)
Someone whispers into his room; someone whispers out

But he seldom whispered; his speech was clear and free -
And
He was my friend, faithful and just to me

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                             The Eclipse – We Have Been Warned!

The world is coming to an end yet again
The InterGossip and Q have determined it’s so:
“It’s in th’ Bible!” she shouts, “It’s full of sin!
I’ve got my freeze-dried food; I’m ready to go!”

Twelve easy payments until the Apocalypse
(Just don’t invest in any green bananas)
“They’ll take us away in U.N. spaceships
Giants from the deep, up from Atlantis!”

The world is coming to an end yet again -
“Jesus warned us!” she yells as the nurse checks her in

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
Poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Logosophiamag.c­om
Hellopoetry.com
Fellowshipandfairydust.com

                  ­                    The Ninth Commandment 2.0

It’s on the InterGossip; it must be true
Now let us see what people are saying about you!

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com


                 Writing with Love Under the Coming Regime


         We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny
          but what we put into it is ours.

                         -Dag Hammarskjold, Markings


They hate you; they cannot do other than hate
They have gulped from Macbeth’s poisoned cup
With raucous laughter argued over lists of enemies
Carving out the names with ****** knives

But you from Love have chosen freely to love
You have taken communion from the Pierian Spring
And studied beauty and truth upon Helicon
You praise every name with sacred words

They hate you; they cannot do other than hate
But you from Love have chosen freely to love


NOT feeling the love in this matter: 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 in the evenings even more slowly and increasingly not at all. Responding to you may take some time.

Lawrence Hall 3d
The Ninth Commandment 2.0
Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
Poeticdrivel.blogspot.com
Logosophiamag.c­­om
Hellopoetry.com
Fellowshipandfairydust.com

                 ­ ­                    The Ninth Commandment 2.0

It’s on the InterGossip; it must be true
Now let us see what people are saying about you!




(This doesn't apply to me, of course. I'm special. My mother said so.)

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                    Not Exactly Veterans’ Day at the High School

Locally the day was celebrated on the 8th
And no one seems to know exactly why
Made-in-China decorations and flags
The high school band playing all the old songs

Compulsory attendance; the students looked bored
We veterans even more so, yawning to attention
The speeches were the usual patriotic soup
Cribbed from the InterGossip the night before

And yet, somehow, that’s the way it should be
Because this is a swell old country, and I love it


(I do NOT love the inept, corrupt, bumbling, cold, distant, busybody, supercilious, grasping, oppressive, hostile, privileged, uneducated, and treacherous Our Set ******* of both unAmerican parties who constitute the government.)

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

              Too Much Coffee Can Cause Your Brain to Shrink

                 (Hey, it was on the InterGossip; it must be true)

Coffee causes your heart to beat too fast
Coffee causes your heart to beat too slow
Coffee causes your heart to beat just right
Coffee alters your DNA and your mind

No, it doesn’t!
Yes, it does!
Doctors say…!
Studies show…!

Say yes, say no, say so, whaddaya know?
Now pour me another cuppa that joe!

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

                               Veterans’ Cremation Benefits

                                    -Ad on the InterGossip

AMTRACS with gas tanks beneath the floor
White phosphorus grenades gone bad, gone wrong
The Parrot’s Beak burning throughout the night
******, burning flesh, screams, horror, death

A burnt man flailing about in agony
And where the hell is that dust-off now?
Copper sulphate, Sulfamylon, Kerlix, Telfa pads
We know about cremation well enough

But now tell us about our benefits

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com


                       Hanukkah is a Light That Always Gets In


                            There is a crack in everything.
                            That’s how the light gets in.

                               -Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”


Eight candles of the mind, then, of the soul
In a time of hooded pursuivants
Seeking for truth so that it might be suppressed
Seeking for light that it might be extinguished

There mustn’t be any candles, then, in the windows now
In this Abomination of Desolation
Where wrapped in reptilian rags from Amazon
Sullen illiterates ***** their eyes against the light

If you are somewhat broken, read from the scroll
Beneath the lights of Hanukkah
Eight candles of the mind and of the soul



Note on the quotation: Babblings on the InterGossip led me to verify the above quote, which is from the poem “Anthem” published in Leonard Cohen, ed. Robert Faggen, Everyman’s Pocket Poetry series.