Heavenly Satire
It is hard to resist
The thought,
Though not with alacrity
It is wrought,
That the Almighty
Laughs a lot
At the tender spot
Of the human commonwealth:
Our frailty and stupidity
Seem to enhance His health
And sustain Him
Forever.
Sure,
He can endow us
With beauty, brains and wealth,
However, often what we get
Is just a fist.
Yet He does not appear to be
Neither a rightist
[...] Read more
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
By Act of Legislation
Once upon a time
In a faraway country
The people of the Province of Falsity
Spoke only truth
Whereas those who lived
In the Province of Truth
Spoke only falsity.
In both provinces
The people sang
Their national anthem in chorus:
If we are lying
We are telling the truth
But if we are telling the truth
We are lying.
Little wonder
People got confused there
And they remained confused
For a long time
[...] Read more
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Lilac Blouse
It snows
As the afternoon braids
Lavender threads of turquoise longing
Into a soulful sanctuary
Of remembrance.
It rained
When the first time
I unbuttoned your wool coat
And under a lilac blouse
I touched your silky breast
Wondering about its sight
And the taste of your
Hardened nipple.
Sunny memory
Still holds your hand
Rejoicing in your kisses and embrace
But my heart mourns
Our unborn children
[...] Read more
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
The Philosopher’s True Scotsman
He was not a Scotsman
But the other himself
He cheated on his wife
In Berlin and Guelph.
No Scotsman would do such thing
Although once one did
Well, redefine the notion
No true Scotsman would, indeed.
He was not a Scotsman
But a foreigner in mist
He robbed banks often,
Just twice, he insists.
No Scotsman would do such thing
Although once one did
Well, redefine the notion
No true Scotsman would, indeed.
[...] Read more
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Weeds and Hyacinths
They yelled at her and spat in her face,
Messengers of turpitude threw insults,
Stripped her dignity and deprived her grace:
Well-meaning people from dubious cults.
But she neither lost faith nor confidence;
As her garden was trampled, her windows broken,
She still heard the music, the choral cadence;
Compassion, kindness facing acts of madmen.
She suffered humiliation and abuse;
When her man left her for an affluent bride
They treated her badly, as a useless refuse:
Life became a burden, a pitiful ride.
Still tender light can enter tart labyrinths,
Weeds may look nicer than fading hyacinths.
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Piano Tunes
For Hsia Jung Chang
I met you only accidentally
In the cold ether of cyberspace
But perhaps it was not
A random chance event
A lordless accident
Occurring in a disheveled chaos
Perhaps it had to happen
Through the hidden harmonies
that bond sentient souls
To the boned cosmos
Because as you emailed
This stranger later
You needed the words
Reverberating
With the music of the spheres
[...] Read more
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Sometimes
Sometimes,
I don’t know how,
I hover over
The Tropic of Capricorn,
Riding on a cirrus
Wispy, white and torn,
Looking at the azure sea
Below.
Sometimes,
I don’t know why,
I am suddenly
At the Arno in Florence,
Listening to Dante’s
Sweet verse at the fence,
While Beatrice is flitting, pure
And shy.
And sometimes,
I don’t know what
[...] Read more
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Postmodern Light
If you don't support ‘progress’
You're not politically correct
Though often it is pure foulness
A perfect product of the imperfect.
If you believe in freedom
Yes, you're politically correct
But one's liberty is another's serfdom
Power in the hand of the elect.
If you're not a feminist
You're not politically correct
So do not swing your fist
Even when you are erect.
Your values and tradition
Are politically correct, perhaps,
If your divorces keep going on
Imbued with other family mishaps.
[...] Read more
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Post-Hesiodean Poem
Poets of remote past and eternal present
Taught me hymns of love, pride and dignity
They knew so well how to live and die
Yet we live in the twenty first century.
The light is dim, almost colorless around
Pollution, nuclear threats, violence, crime,
Alienation and angst became the essence
Of life on coordinates of space and time.
Searching amongst meaningless things meaning
My poems ripple in the cosmos like ocean waves
I aim and dream to reach the unattainable
In these Post-Hesiodean Works and Days.
Yearning for organic harmonies, the timeless
Calmness of solid geometry I wonder
Hoping that with a poem, painting, song
Or novel, our world is becoming better.
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Camp Concerts
In school I learnt
That music beautifies life.
It elevates and ennobles
The soul.
But tell me
My dear teacher:
How could the music
Elevate the prisoners
Of Treblinka?
How could
The waltz or the tango
Beautify the tortures
In Sobibor?
And how could
The symphonies
At Auschwitz ennoble
The victims?
[...] Read more
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!