Paul Hartal Poems

Once upon a time a pessimist and an optimist
had a profound discussion. And at the end
of their conversation, the pessimist left
cheerfully whistling and filled with rosy hope;
...

Boy, you are different:
You are hairy and tiny but have six legs and five eyes.
And wow, your four wings move at thousands of times
per minute. I wish I could sense how you see the world?
...

On a sunny day of Taurus
they cut her abdomen.
With stainless scalpels
the surgeons unlatched her uterus
...

The world has changed
Because you left it
I feel your presence
But where are you now?
...

The ghosts of history haunt the Balkans.
Ancient passions, unbending hatreds
turmoil the region.
Painful tragedies of the past
...

On a January day
It occurred to me
It is neither
A coincidence,
...