You say it was unbearable
But you bore it
Every minute
You were in it

Like a cave diver
Turned around
In silty water
You felt that this was it
Soaked lamb to the intrinsic slaughter

But look at you now
It's like it didn't even happen
When you emerged
At the caves mouth
Those that loved you
All were clapping.

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

                        My Bestest Friend in the Whole First Grade


                                            For Rodney Joe Webb
                                               of happy memory


Our fathers’ farms were across the road from each other
We rode the big yaller feller to school
After the morning milking: Run! Run! We’ll be late!
And back again for the evening milking

We knew all sorts of stuff about battleships
And that Roy Rogers was better than Gene Autry
Chevy or Ford, and America could never be licked
Robin Hood and the biggest fish in the pond

The farms are long gone, and the fields of hay –
I went to his visitation today

we used to draw sharks
on our living room floor,
and run away laughing
when it was time to clean up.

we’d sit at the curb
a block away from home,
consuming junk food and stories
no one will ever know of.

u were the baby of the family,
a constant reminder that i had to grow.
and ur name even came from me,
a responsibility i will always adore.

i’m sorry if life has failed u,
i can’t help the regrets that come rushing in, knowing in my heart that i tried,
but u just weren’t mine to save.

i wish we could stay in the past forever
ur hand in mine as we crossed the road,
i wish the innocence stayed in ur eyes longer,
but now it’s time i let u grow.

These are
troubled time.
Society is sick in a
world growing uglier,
as is the number of those
who wish to extinguish
the flames of hope
and freedom.