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

                               A New Medication and its Cautions

One of the side-effects of my new med is death
Along with garbled speech and all the reth
Right here on this enclosure; that’s what it saith -
And when I read of death I lost my breath!

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

                  Together We Have All Suffered Nights on Weathertop

                                         Gratitude for Friends

We have suffered nights on Weathertop
Made a perimeter against bleak despair
Surrounded in the dark by yet more dark
Chilling us, choking us in miasms of fear

Shhhhh, shhhh – out there – THEY are here – they are HERE!
Confusion and terror, a poisonous blade
Hissings and terror, and deep-fouled temptations
And afterward through the years a deep-fouled pain

Each of us suffers a wound that never mends -
But by the grace of Elbereth we are all stout friends

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

                 A Reformation Wheeze – No Smoking, Please!

Should Catholics grow nervous if invited to
A good old-fashioned Smithfield barbecue?




NB: In the USA Smithfield Foods is a highly regarded purveyor of foodstuffs, most notably pork.

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

                         When We Re-Read Our Childhood Books

When we re-read our childhood books, we are
Children again, barefoot children, we are
Roaming Sherwood with Robin Hood, we are
Standing watch on the Hispaniola, we are

Stalking deer in the forest primeval, we are
Walking with Aslan in Narnia, we are
Studying with Anne in Avonlea, we are
Coursing stars with Podkayne of Mars, we are

Dancing with princes and princesses, we are
Because when we re-read our childhood books

We are

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

                        “Ladies…or Should I say Astronauts…”

                                         -as heard on the CBC

Shriek! Cackle! Giggle! Omigod! Ohmigoddess! Omigod! Omigod! I can’t believe what I’m seeing! Omigod! Omigoddess! Shriek! Cackle! Omigod! Omigod! Giggle! Omigod! I can’t believe what I’m seeing! Giggle! Omigod! Shriek! Cackle! Omigod! Omigod! That’s our pink moon! Omigod! I can’t believe what I’m seeing! Ohmigoddess! Giggle! Shriek! Cackle! Omigod! Omigod! Omigoddess! I can’t believe what I’m seeing! Shriek! Cackle! Omigodess! Omigod! Omigod! I can’t believe what I’m seeing! Shriek! Cackle! Giggle! Omigod! Omigod! Omigod! I can’t believe what I’m seeing! Omigod! Shriek! Cackle! Omigoddess! Omigod! Omigod! Giggle! Omigod! I can’t believe what I’m seeing! Giggle! Omigod! Shriek! Cackle! Omigod! Omigod! Omigod! I can’t believe what I’m seeing! Giggle! Shriek! Cackle! Omigod! Omigodess! Omigod! I can’t believe what I’m seeing! Shriek! Cackle! Omigod! Omigod! Omigoddess! I can’t believe what I’m seeing!

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

                              A Roadside Snapping Turtle in April

If you’d spent the winter
Sleeping deep down in the mud
You’d be snappish too!

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

                                                   God’s Wounds

                                     Sumy, Ukraine, Palm Sunday 2025

Ukraine wanted to welcome Jesus today
To welcome Him with the branches of willows
As is their custom on Palm Sunday, for they have no palms
But this holy day brought them Putin and bombs

Little children wanted to welcome Jesus today
They died with willows in their tiny hands
Burning in the wreckage, in their Sunday best
Sirens and explosions, screams and blood

The faithful of Sumy wanted to welcome Jesus today
But what Putin has written he has written -
                                               he has written them away