Hal Caufield

Irony is a literary or rhetorical device.
The essayist Henry Watson Fowler wrote:
“any definition of irony
—though hundreds might be given,
...

My mother cried again last night.
I looked down trying to avoid her eyes,
Knowing that I was the cause of the pain.
She wrestled with my stare
...

I want to paint you.
Not to achieve immortality
For you or me
By the exquisiteness of your portrait.
...

It’s not your golden curls
Or sky blue eyes
That I love most.
Although they delight
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Believe thee not shame upon our love.
Believe thee not disgrace upon our kiss.
There is honor in our hearts endowed above.
There is nobility in our lips’ blessed bliss.
...

Yesterday I finally understood
“Beauty like a tightened bow”
And as read “No Second Troy”
Things, though already clear,
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I will always stand for you.
I will always stare,
In slack jawed awe,
When you walk into a room.
...

I drank all the Allegrini wine
Trying to shake the pain
And chase the cold
That of late has overcome my heart.
...

I have come to the conclusion of late,
That even if I were to become
The master of all I survey,
I would have nothing,
...

You are the morning sun,
Its luminance never extinguished
By overcast skies.
The morning sun’s splendor
...

I don’t know if you noticed darling,
But from the first day I professed my love
I disarmed and disrobed myself before you.
I did this not out of vanity or weakness,
...

Tell me, tell me,
My dearest June!
What words do I use
To prove to you
...

She has a pen perfectly shaped like a fish.
Its flanks stripped crimson, blue and amber,
Shine all the brighter by the glisten in her eyes
As she tells me, it was a gift from her father.
...

There should be no mystery
As to who I am, and what I want.
Yet the questions have long
Plagued and vexed my soul.
...

I could write today about time.
Pen remorse of the road not taken.
I could pontificate on that
Great rough beast of fate,
...

Please, please no more tears,
I begged, I pleaded.
As if words could
Heal wounds I have
...

She told me the fat lady sung.
I glum, begged it not to be.
And have these days stumbled
About, quite disheartened.
...

I was invited for Chinese food
At my sister’s house, and gladly accepted.
They are joyful lot.
And I thought the company
...

I am so pathetic.
I spent the evening
Outside of a Seven-Eleven
Smoking and staring at my car.
...

In the back of my favorite draw,
Safe from prying pudgy fingers,
I have secreted away a hallowed treasure.
Its precious contents safely store
...