Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

               Wolf-Dog-Coyote Things, Dachshunds, and a ‘Possum

“Luna! Stop it! Let go of that ‘possum! Astrid! Get out of it! You’ll get bitten! Luna! Do you hear me!? Stop it! Let go! Astrid! Get out of the way! Luna!”

                Snarls, hisses, and the crashing of garden tools for effect

The wolf-dog-coyote things sang in the fields
The dogs fought with a ‘possum in the shed
Which wasn’t organized very well before
But after the fight one can’t even step inside

The ‘possum has at last safely escaped
The little dogs are quite proud of themselves
They and I are all panting for breath
And the wolf-dog-coyote things have gone quiet

The rural life does not often admit
Time for meditation, reflection, and peace

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                         ­                Havoc

                       What is havoc, and how does one wreak it?

Havoc is a condition or state of being
That apparently exists only to be wrought
(There is no such word in English as “wreaked”)
A wreak does not now obtain without a havoc
And there is no havoc without a wreak

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                   “I Called to the Lord from my Narrow Prison”

                  “I called to the Lord from my narrow prison
                    and he answered me in the freedom of space.”

                       -Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl

Dark prisons of the mind are narrow too
A lack of light to fall upon a page
A page where hopes are written in words of hope
And spoken in hope through layers of shame and guilt

Dark prisons of the heart are narrow too
So reach into your mind, your heart, your soul
And even in the darkness of a narrow cell
Call softly to the Lord through the fetid air

Dark prisons of the soul are narrow too –
Perhaps you are the one who locked the door?

Open it.

Try.

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


                                 Out Where the West Begins

                                 In the Drugstore Parking Lot

An old man creaks his body out of the pickup
With boots on the ground he's got his swagger back
He taps a Marlboro out of a cardboard box
And lights it with a manly Zippo (clink)

He’s practiced his technique since ‘66
A ‘way-cool curl of silver-white cowboy smoke
Rising up above the pickup cab and into the West
Along with a phlegm-rich boots-and-saddles cough

His wife’s inside the store, a-getting’ his pills
He can’t quite manage that distance himself

‘Way back when he was so ////’ cool, you know?

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

                              Science Experiments and Pirate Ships

                                For Gordon, of Happy Memory
                                 Whose Death Began in Viet-Nam

My boyhood pal’s home is now mostly gone
A concrete slab among some sunburnt weeds
The crumbling front-porch steps still stepped in place
But leading only to memories in the empty air

There where his bedroom laboratory used to be
We traded Heinlein stories and comic books
Experimented with chemicals and radio kits
And planned camping adventures that never were

His father was a widower who didn’t like either of us
But maybe that part of it doesn’t matter now

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

                                   Being a ‘Possum Must be Rough

                                      A Dachshund’s Night Patrol

Being a ‘possum can only be rough
Dragged all over the yard by a dachshund
A furious dachshund half its size
Until it collapses into a faint

And unconscious cannot see the absurdity
Of this old man chasing the dachshund all over the yard
Explaining that the ‘possum is a beneficent species
Demanding obedience, and receiving none

It’s not at all biblical, but even so
I command the dog to let my ‘possum go

(No ‘possums were harmed in the making of this minor marsupial motion picture)

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

                                                Shrifts, All Sizes

One hears of someone getting a short shrift, of course
But where does he get a shrift? At Amazon?
And are there any long shrifts available,
Fashioned in Sri Lanka or Honduras?

I have never felt the need for a shrift
Pajamas are just fine for me, thank you
But if I had one it would need to be
A long shrift, please, since I am rather tall

On the subject of shrifts

I don’t mean to be a bother or a bore
But can I buy one cheap at the local shrift store?