H.E. Mantel - Two Poems

Octaobtaneous
(ex oficio ex pede Herculean)

Sabado the day
of wrest… boulevards of the
road sparkspangle like
a dim victory parade
voicers upped like the balloons

& hoods like hungry
jaws of debt hawkbarkering’ers
as a friend faster
than lunch slicker than unct for
whats you want whats they need…lots

of lots vacant grins
in shined tins pander machines
quo ex animo
lower than flags readied
for glutt & waxy car max

g’day there like that
one? a new arrival clean
an’ sweet an’ ready

t’ go this one’s a
quicksign an’ drive’r exec-
yutive got a budg’t?

she’s a foreclo…heh
trade-off hop-on…th’ keyless
model get the clue?

your house on wheels tires
just for fun kicked from under
octaobtaneous
gourmet petrol of design
no price is left out right but

sabado the day
of wrest…boulevards of the
road wax wing lots of
idlings’ time bomb tic-tic ‘til
the soup’s pee for tea an’ toast.



Rapid Transit? 

A faster car, a
faster computer, faster-
acting antacid

faster service, an
Xpress check-out, a faster
return, a faster

delivery, faster
acting, living in Faster-
Land, for a faster

result, a Disney-
Whirl on the outerskirts of
Criminalsburg (past

Hurrysburg, PA)
bulletrades on the E-train
speedialed, speediern'

AlkaSeltzer burst
bubbles, bigger rude, hotter
nudes, faster foods

faster route, bigger
snout on the speedway, faster
than speeding bullets

fastern' the fast laned
SuperCurl, SupeSuperGlue!
& litmus turn blue?

Faster turnaround
time to backwards cheat, dancin’
as fast as ya can?

S L O W...
take the ES-CarGo &
drive with lobster hands

miss the plane/train/game,
& a faster break, divorce
Disney, no return

there not "Late-Late for
a very important dates,
goodbye... I'll stay &

let my fingers do
the walking", hurry-up &
wait computeless, eat

right, leftovers, fast
food not, slowfoodist moodist
fastidious, the

fastway hungray, Road-
runner/Speedy Gonzalez -
Andeleandele!

Not so swift, Johnny
ya cain't match quippin' fastern'
Jack Robinson, eh?

And buttons fasten
better without the snappin',
Snappin'!? Xpress check-

out, scan the scanner -
Queues Brevis-Vida Longa!
A fa$ter Eddie,

Fa$tCa$hFa$t on the
outerskirts of Crim'nilsburg
fastrack Fastow on

an end ron, 'cept all
for a fastdrying, faster
dissolve, Bubhub!, but

ready-set...on your
throttled Planete of the Ants
limit speed scurries

Nature don't hurry,
yet everything's accomplished
Lao Tze, yowtsayu?

But, the time for a
tasty hasty; aft, a crave

of HastyTasty?

Where ya goin' to
Ms. Hurry, Mr. Rabbit
Transit, down the hole?

Y'all know the score, don't
care to dare break It if'n
It ain't fixed, Hornk-Hornk!



H.E. Mantel-O’HaroHalola, of Hallandale Beach, Florida; published extensively in print and Internet e-zines/journals/anthologies, awaiting the publication of poetry collections, Bananas' On The Moon...A Collection Of Revisionist Haiku, & Sophistigates: A New Book Of New Poetry.