You're lookin' at the river
Feelin' down and weak
When you're
Wadin' in the water
and it's rushing 'round your feet
When you want to
Reach the other side
And feel you can't retreat
The same insane song
In your head
And it is on "repeat"...

Just remember there are Bridges
They are made of words
Remember there are Bridges
Things you haven't heard
Remember there are Bridges
Made with human hands
Remember there are Bridges
Then you'll understand

The waters in that riverbed
They are cold and deep
They have a riptide current
So look before you leap!
You can't stand against them
They will take you down
You may just go under
Brother, sister, you will drown!

Reaching out ain't easy
But it don't get much worse
Than feeling down and vulnerable
Living with a curse
It's like picking up the planet
To lift that lifeline phone
But there people who
Will care for you...
You are not alone!

Just remember there are bridges
They are made of Words,
Remember there are bridges
Things you haven't heard,
Remember there are bridges
Made with God's own hand
Remember there are bridges
Then you'll understand.

Remember there are Bridges
When you are at a loss
They weren't made to jump from

They were made to CROSS.

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                  Who is the Third Murderer in Macbeth?


                         But who did bid thee join with us?

                                        -Macbeth III.iii.1


Two murderers are hired; a third one joins
The false lady, perhaps, or the tempter himself
As light and love both thicken near the rooky wood
“But who did bid thee join…?” Maybe we did

We have drooped and drowsed through civilization
Scorning the sacred texts of our several faiths
Approaching the Altar as a drive-through concession
The Body of Christ and maybe an order of fries

Who is the Third Murderer?
                                                        Rabbi, is it I?

I had been sober for
awhile and was getting that
itch to drink.
I couldn't recall the
degradation and misery of
the last drunk a few months
earlier.

It was spring, and I was standing
outside of the flophouse, I was
staying at.
Just then, a big sunflower of
a woman walked by.
"Hi Jenny," I said.
We had a past.
Not much of one though.
It resembled a Dali painting that
had been soaking in the rain.

We ended up in a motel with a
bottle of Absinthe.
Jenny wasn't much of a drinker,
No problem, more for me.
Jenny wasn't much of a
conversationalist, and half-lit on
robust *****, neither was I.
I walked around the room talking
about Hemingway and Van Gogh,
Fitzgerald and Picasso.
Jenny wasn't interested in them.
She wanted me to score her some dope.

She said, "If you want this *****, you
will buy me an eight ball."
I didn't.
I wanted to write, but I was too drunk.
We wanted different things and neither
of us
found them that night.
And later at about 3 am when I got
up to ****, I could have sworn I saw the
picture of Van Gogh on the box of Absinthe
laughing.

Where went the days
We had things to say
While others sat back and listened

May not have agreed
But still felt the need
That time should be equally given

Unto both sides
Whether they're wrong or right
We should all be afforded our opinion

Without one another
Screaming at each other
One thing we seem to be missing

Make it make sense
Shouldn't we live and let live
No matter the side you are on

We should after all
Adhere to the goal
Of trying to all get along

Look closely and see
We basically have the same needs
Where we all just want to be loved

Which brings on the point
In our needs and our wants
Shouldn't love after all be enough

To bring us together
In hard times or pleasure
It really shouldn't be that tough

To turn things around
No matter how far down we've allowed
I'll say it again; it's got to be love

You can be a man of peace
But there will come a time
When you find the least of these
Must stand up and fight

If you let a world of bullies
Continue to beat you down
You have the right to stand and fight
Pick yourself up off the ground

For far too long with time drawn
Taken advantage of
It's your turn now to win a round
******* tight the boxing gloves

Backed into a corner
Up against the wall
When you find no options left
That's when you make the call

To come out of this swinging
Who can really blame
You for any reason
When you up and loudly proclaim

That you're a man of peace
And hold tight the right
When you find that there's a need
To stand up and fight

I never realized we were a thing
My guess is it wasn't clear
Till what we had up and left
On that fateful day you disappeared

There's not a thing that's worth repeating
Out here now on my own
And if you don't mind me telling you something
I don't much like being all alone

Everything thing we had together
Now doesn't mean a thing to me
What really seems to matter
Is in how we used to be

There are things in life you can't control
Still, you do your best to make it through
I only wish at the time that I had known
I had a thing or two for you

...and apparently still do