Early Poems by Leo Hartshorn

Found these poems from the 80's in a notebook I uncovered in some unpacked boxes today:

Food for Thought

To deduce a Creator from creation
through Paley's analogy of machination
is a prior assumption
for cerebral consumption
But just as Pascal said,
The heart eats things
passed over by the head



Pizza Communion

A small voice intones a give-us-this-day-prayer
over a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese
The three young disciples of Tom-foolery
wash down the pizza with blessed Coca-Cola
A simple meal
A sacred Meal
to the one whose eyes have been opened
at the slicing of the pizza



Mobile Sanctuary

Through the silent spaces of air
outside my car
while waiting at a red light
the Word flies into my car radio
the silent, invisible Word
made audible in my mobile sanctuary
through my car stereo
beneath a dirty dashboard horizon
and valley of coke cans and trash
the Word bursts into the silence
birthing itself in my ears
with heavy beat and screaming guitar
a just-alright-Jesus
the Rock of Ages
The Word
born in an audio manger
amid the trash
and a dusty dash