Harper College - Halcyon Yearbook (Palatine, IL)

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HIN TS FROM THE SUNSET By Louis Ginsberg What message is the sunset trying to utter? In hints ofan unearthly light, The syllables o f colors discourse on what Immortal realnzs beyond all mortal sight? Does haunting beauty of the sunset speak Of longing, like homesiekness ofthe soul, For land of lost deligltt wlzose intimation are shed here from some far, mysterious goal? It must be memory of lost heritage Of some invisible and ehangeless elime, As here, for a moment, in a luminous aura, Tinzelessness is parleying with Time. Soon spell of the sunset rhetoric slowly fades And with nostalgia, sighs into the dark: It enigmatic hints abandon me Inearcerated in a question-mark. 20 MAN IN A U TO By Louis Ginsberg High-octane ofdelight Often makes lzim feel Expansion of his might To gloat behind the wheel. Only one thing mars His stepping on the gas For ou twitting ears - Himself lze Cannot pass. With gadgets at lzis call, He has learned an art Of evading all, Izbceept lzis empty heart Driyen by a need, Yet he does not guess Briefly will lzis speed Drug lzis loneliness. Using power-steering, He will quickly Come Meehanieally yeering Around his yaeuum,

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UNDER SEA S By Louis Ginsberg The fog at night transfigures the city streets To underwaters of a tropic sea Gas-stations f exotic flowers of neon lights f Hatch on corners luminous mystery A trailer-truck heaves like a bulky whale, Where corner drug-store, like the broken hold Of shipwrecked, suneen galleon, is spilling out Rubies, emerals and shimmering gold. Where sudden commotion scaters fish, a dragon - A hook-and-ladder fire-engine - creeps And fights its way through crowded Main Street trafic To roil up legends from the murky deeps. While currents knead the countless centuries, Fantastic creatures in this watery space - Are they primordial memories swimming up From subliminal subconscious of the race? MISTA TNIGHT BV Louis Ginsberg The muslin mist Floats like gauze To annul Tlze usual laws. Traffic-lights, sign-lights Rent, in tlze haze, Surprises, lzaljllzidden To tlze gaze. Streets and alleys, Towers and hotels Are cobwebbed with Secrets and spells. Neoned gas-stations On corners there Exhale legends To dye the air. Supermarkets Quickly unfold Ali Baba caves Where passers behold Luminous treasures, Aching with gold.

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Ethics Ethics is named in honor of the man who invented it, Ethos of Athens, a fifth cen- tury B.C. building inspector. He worked his way up through the party from ward heeler to committeeman. He caught the eye of the party leadership who wanted his job for one of their relatives. But Ethos represented too many votes to just drop him down the chute, so he was asked if there was some other job he would rather have. l would like to be a building inspector, he replied without hesitation. But that's more of a demotion than a promotion, he was told. There is a bit of money to be made in the building inspecting business, he said. The party bosses smiled and eyed each other, knowingly. Besides, l'm well-gual- ified for the post. After all, my second cousin was in the construction business, once. That settled it. His qualification being unimpeachable, Ethos got the job. And he took to the work like money in a bank, so to speak. He went about just inspecting to his heart's content, and everybody eles's, IOO. His very first assignment was an addi- tional reward, of sorts, for having stepped aside for the party leader's relative. He was given the total responsibility of inspecting the construction of the Parthenon which had just gotten under way. One day, he went out to the Acropolis to inspect the foundation of the new edifice and was not surprised to find an obvious violation. After all, his second cousin hadn't been in Uwe construction business for nothing. He called the chief engineer over and pointed out the error. The specifications clearly called for a granite foundation, Ethos said. Well . . . uh . . . marble is so much easier to quarry, the engineer mumbled. But marble won't last for five thousand years as specified, Ethos protested. Well . . . no . . . but, being easier to quarry, the use of marble will result in a substantial cost savings, the engineer ex- plained proudly. Of course, this savings will be passed along to the tax payers, Ethos said. Why, of course. l mean... well. . . I l suppose . . . The engineer stammered Look here. Why don't l just give you this sack of money so you'll forget about marble foundation? He jingled a small, leather sack of coins before Ethos' startled eyes and in full view the construction crew. Why, that's bribery, Ethos exclained. Of course it is, the engineer agreed. '-'That's how things are done these days. Now, just take the money and run along. Ethos studied the construction workers and their curious glances. Then he said, sternly. l want to speak to you in private. He escorted the engineer behind a stack of stone blocks where Ethos confronted him with a withering stare. How dare you offer me a bribe in full view of those men? Well, why not? replied the engineer. Everybody does it that way. And they don't make any secret about it, either. Well, l'm different, Ethos snapped. l've got my pride. The very idea, accepting 21