Hall Gardner

This tequila morn
only we winos awake
to breathe the scents of petals
withered from a yellow rose...

Not a smorgasbord 

of international delicacies,

nor a buffet

of intricate delights....

You remembered how those gigantic transports once soared

one by one like vultures over your sandbox where your model jets roared

strikes against tanks and toy soldiers. You were not even born when...

The wake-up blast of her alarm clock

belatedly warns her of what she already knows.

She has already stripped the bed sheets

and showered with lime-scented soap...

Damn it all, John! Help rid me of this gobbledygook!

These mangy curs attack with devious eyes-

I say to the garbage pails and stand! 

Defend our driveways! Onward—to the garage!!!...

"Splinters the Length of Daggers" by Hall Gardner

Splinters the Length of Daggers was written in 1979 in reaction to the Three Mile Island nuclear accident; it was read at numerous anti-nuclear protests in the 1980s, and it was published in Hall Gardner, The Wake-UP Blast (2008).

Venice Weeping

Section of Poem "Venice Weeping With or Without Water" by Hall Gardner, author of the The Wake-Up Blast

"Moroccan Herbs" by Hall Gardner

Poem read in Agadir Souk

"Interpreter" by Hall Gardner

Interpreter (for Isabel) is about the dilemmas involved in interpretation in the effort to prevent a nuclear war between the US and Russia.

"Taste of the Town" by Hall Gardner

Taste of the Town was first written to protest the Carter-Reagan nuclear weapons buildup and now Trump, following Obama, is repeating the same tragic mistake.

"The Wake-Up Blast" by Hall Gardner

The Wake-Up Blast is a protest against the terrorist attacks on the Madrid train system on March 11, 2004.

Brainstorm

Read before the Nikola Tesla museum in Belgrade.