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

        Garish On-Your-Face In-Your-Face Makeup at Twenty Paces

There are several forms of government:

Monarchy
Kakistocracy
Oligarchy
Autocracy
Democracy
­Anarchy

But Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk have given us
A new form of government via online spat
We’re ruled by cheerleader moms who shriek and cuss
So what is the scholarly Greek word for that?

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

                                   Bishops Who Roared Like Lions

Your Grace:

There have been bishops who have roared like lions
But your demeanor is that of a house pet
Please rise from your couch in Caesar’s triclinium
And return to the streets to serve God’s people

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

                               Bishops Who Roared Like Lions

Your Grace:

There have been bishops who have roared like lions
But your demeanor is that of a house pet
Please rise from your couch in Caesar’s triclinium
And return to the streets to serve God’s people

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

                                              What Did He Say?

She sat on the porch with her big orange cat
All cuddled up happily in her lap
When we arrived to drive her to an appointment
In a large building in the center of town


The doctor said something about stage 2


She had little to say as we drove away
And when we left her at her home again
She sat on the porch with her big orange cat
All cuddled up happily in her lap

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

                 Child Injured after Accidentally Shooting Himself

                                                       -headline

I’m sorry, Daddy
I didn’t mean to bleed all over the rug
I’m sorry, Daddy
It really hurts
I’m sorry, Daddy
I only wanted to play with your favorite toy
I’m sorry, Daddy
Why is everybody yelling?
I’m sorry, Daddy
I don’t feel good, Daddy…

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

                       The New Poets of England and America


                        Young poetry is the breath of parted lips.

                                    -Robert Frost, introduction
                         The New Poets of England and America


They’re no longer new; they’re not even alive
Those post-war young voices of strength and hope
Working through the wastelands after men of destiny
Blitzed beauty with bullets, bombers, and barbed wire

Some of them soldiers, and war-weary all
They were worn out, but determined and young
Digging out the words they had hidden away
Cleaning them up for service to humanity

They were young; they were very much like you
Doing their duty as artists and poets must do


The New Poets of England and America
Ed. Donald Hall et al
Introduction by Robert Frost
New York: Meridian Books, 1957

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

                                     The True First Day of Summer

                                “This is the day the Lord hath made…”

When teachers fold their leathery wings and sleep
Hidden away in their bat-cave deep
In the darkness where foul things lurk and creep -
Only then may children freely laugh and leap

No more tiresome lessons about “lie” and “lay’
A child may lie in the glass or lay in the hay
Run out to the lawns and fields to play
And joy in the freedom of each summer day

The 20th of June? A fallacious rule -
Summer begins on the last day of school!