Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's
Journal of Life, Literature and Love
Hecho
en China
New hiking shoes from Wal-Mart say
what?
They say, “Cubierta de Cuero y
Sintetico”
Does that mean
“Made by Prisoner X7741?”
Or
“Made of Prisoner X7741?”
Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
January
– Soup and Peace for All
As the winter winds flail, soup on
the stove
Blessing the kitchen with all its
summery scents
An all-morning bouquet of comfort
and peace
Simmering against the grey and
dreary cold
Sleet rattles against the window
panes
Sharp ice metastasizes on the skeletal
trees
But inside we ladle up happiness and
love
With Momma’s prayers over each comforting bowl
Veggies and beef – could I have a
little more, please?
As the old gag goes, visualize
whirled peas!
Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's
Journal of Life, Literature and Love
It’s
All Anne Frank’s Fault
Imagine escaping the brick-pits of Goshen
Trekking the deserts with Joshua and
Moses
Learning the Commandments, feeding
on Mannah
Crossing the Jordan into the
Promised Land
Imagine chanting the Psalms, learning
from Isaiah
Teaching Proverbs and Wisdom to your
children
Telling the ancient stories while
working the fields
Braving the adventures God has given
us
Imagine stepping outside after Mass
After sharing the body and blood of
the Christ
And complaining that all the world’s
problems
Are caused by “th’ Jews”
Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love
Thank You for Your Attention to This Matter
Both sides waving American flags
Bodies in the streets like bundles of rags
Lawrence Hall
mhall 46184@aol.com
Laundry on a Snowy Day
Little fluffs of white floating
through the air
Swirling and drifting and dancing
merrily
Falling upon us as gently as a
prayer
One landing on your nose momentarily
But this is not from the January
snow
This puffy white stuff all over the
floor
Because it has nowhere else to go
Except for Hoovering it up (a
tiresome chore)
It flies from the dryer much like a
rocket
Because
Someone always leaves Kleenex
in her pocket!
Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love
The Coming Ice Storm
Wood for the fireplace stacked inside and out
Sterno for the camp stove, bottled water everywhere
Batteries, portable radios, toilet paper, lanterns
The outside faucets covered with plastic and old towels
Bedding for the pets in the laundry room
Mothball-scented blankets disposed here and there
The questions come as quickly as the wind:
What if…? What about…? What if…? What about…?
The day is grey and darkens even more
As strange blue light falls upon us from the north
Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's
Journal of Life, Literature and Love
Can
You Describe This?
-Anna Ahkmatova, Requiem
Supplicants waiting in long lines in
the snow
Hoping to give their children some
sense of truth
Among the gassings of electronic
screens
Protestors and federals bellowing in
turn
The news blows in as Siberian flurries
Some flailing this way, and some trailing
that
Footprints disappear among the
drifts
Rasputin’s body might float up in
the spring
Describe each human as a number, as
a stat
“Truth?” sneered Pontius Pilate, “now
what is that?”
“Can you describe this?” a woman asked
Ahkmatova
“Yes, I can,” she spoke, she wrote,
she lived
Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love
A Children’s Bedtime Litany for 2026
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
From the ICE-men who break into our homes and beat up our families
Deliver us, O Lord
From the anti-ICE who invade our churches on Sunday mornings
Deliver us, O Lord
From the ICE gunfire in our streets
Deliver us, O Lord
From the anti-ICE gunfire in our streets
Deliver us, O Lord
From the tear gas on our playgrounds
Deliver us, O Lord
From government-sponsored kidnappings
Deliver us, O Lord
From fires and looting
Deliver us, O Lord
From explosions in the night
Deliver us, O Lord
From strangers roaming around with guns
Deliver us, O Lord
From the unmarked SUVs that circle our block
Deliver us, O Lord
From the violence-pornographers who take our pictures
Deliver us, O Lord
Grant your children rest this night, O Lord
Or if we must be wakeful
Make the shooting stop
Amen
In the Name of…shhhhh!...they’re beating on the door…don’t let them hear you…
Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life,
Literature and Love
A
Complimentary Tote
How very nice of you to check me out
Of all the things you could have
bought today
You purchased a tote, which shows
your good sense
And you picked me, which shows your
good taste
Those are some great shoes you’re
wearing
And your watch is a study in
elegance
Proper dress is all about the
accessories
I’m proud to be seen with such a
classy lady
Wait – diapers? I gotta carry dirty diapers!?
And those dirty baby-bottom wipers!?
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life,
Literature and Love
Combat
Patrol on the Borders of the Empire
There
were nasty people in the army; but…[e]very few days one seemed to meet a
scholar, an original, a poet, a cheery buffoon, a raconteur, or at least a man
of good will.
-C. S. Lewis, “Guns and Good Company,” Surprised by
Joy
Muffle-armored like Heinlein’s
starship troopers
What attributes of civilization
Can the soldiers of our armies carry
Carefully tucked into their pockets
and packs:
Paperback poets, math reviews, Miss
January
Letters from home, a Rosary, a
Testament
A naughty little short-timer calendar
A creased photograph of someone
special
What do young soldiers carry with
them
When they are ordered to suppress
Their fellow
Americans
