The Test of Love

The Sun
Shone high
Above.

Under a clear sky
They walked
Hand in hand.

I love you
Like I love myself,
She said.

And I love you
More than myself,
He said.

But love
Is proven by deeds
Not by words,
She said.

poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

She Does Not Talk

She does not talk
To me any more
And does not look
At me
Just
Strolls about
All day long
With downcast eyes.

Today
I saw her
In the sunshine
Crouching
As only she can
With gentle hands
Touching
A flower stalk
And talking
To the petals.

poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Palindromic Flight

747
oh
bilateral symmetry
elegant fuselage
lo
the wings
and
the tail
in a palindromic flight
poetry
crosses
the sky
behold
behold
the sky
crosses
poetry
in a palindromic flight
the tail
and

[...] Read more

poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

God's Silence

On a January day
It occurred to me
It is neither
A coincidence,
Nor an act of negligence
That God promotes
The inference,
Explaining why His words
Are not curt or terse:
Rather in silence
He will immerse;
And perhaps
He speaks the language
Of silence
Out of self-defense.

poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Using Art and Science

In
this
Strained Epoch
Of Man
And
in my own
Over-organized
Cyclic sphere
I need ‘useless’ Art
More
Than I need
‘Useful’ science.

Therefore
Art
Does not exist
Merely
For its own sake
For my part
Art is directly

[...] Read more

poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Streamlined or Not

Stands still
the mill.
It cannot grind
with the water
flowing slow or fast
that is past.

Yet tomorrow
old mills
destined to grind
and abrade.
Streamlined,
the future
often thrills.

And past mills,
unborn yet,
may rise
to pulverize
and grind

[...] Read more

poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Moment in Frame

At exactly
Eight twenty nine
Of the brittle morning
A black car passed
In the melting street.

A faded lonely leaf
From last September
Somersaulted
By the rollicking wind
Over the pallid snow
Of early April.

An orange sun
Was shining
And a grey-winged
Redbreast robin
Began to chant
Her Psalms.

poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Hiding God

Brutal, hard and tough
Life is like Teflon
You say God is hiding
And we are all alone.

But since we are skeptics
We must doubt such faith,
The heart has its reasons
That reason cannot state.

Look how the soul rises,
Though the light is dim,
Let me hold your hand,
In love you may find Him.

poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Sunset Splashes

The sunset splashes
Misty gold light snaps
On the humpy trees,
Nightfall advances.

The frothy forest
Shuts its bird mouth,
Lanky sights swim
Slowly in the south.

The weltering wind
Gyrates dark sorrows,
Sultry stars trickle down
The earth’s frosty sigh,
Whistling moon dances
In the foamy sky.

poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Like Old Wine

Love has an end,
You once told me.
But my love is endless,
Regardless of the years
Which fly by and progress.

It did come in
At the window,
But does not go out
At the door to vaporize
In a masterless drought.

Like an old wine,
My love matures,
With time it ripens,
Buoyantly evolves,
Grows in resilience.

poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!