Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

Where Do Our Dreams Go?

We wake up every morning, still adrift

From night and dreams and fog and hazy dawn

Unless we work the night shift down at the plant

For then we rise to the evening news

When we wake up where do our pale dreams go?

Maybe the first flush makes them disappear

Maybe daylight fades them into non-being

Or they’re put out with the dog for the dawn patrol

And never allowed back in

It’s really okay

if nightmares go away -

I just wish the happy dreams would stay

Artificial Intelligence on the Assembly Line - couplet

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

Artificial Intelligence on the Assembly Line

Artificial intelligence can no more displace poetry

Than the Model T Ford can displace the dance

Three Times in the Heart - poem

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

Three Times in the Heart

It’s on the InterGossip so it must be true

Some years ago a poet shot himself

A Young poet shot himself in the heart

Three times

He shot himself in the heart three times

And the county coroner agreed that it was so

Three times

The county coroner did not say if he shot himself

In the back, in the back, in the back-back

Three times

Well, hey, what do I know; I wasn’t there

But it’s on the InterGossip; it must be true

Negative Capability and Stuff - poem

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

Negative Capability and Stuff

For Nat Lipstadt

Exactly inexactly that sheet of paper

A blank sheet of paper rich in its blankness

Because there is nothing there and so

The possibilities of being are without limits

Except for that 8.5 x 11” thing

Which the writer is free to repudiate

And see beyond it a spectrum of beauty and truth

Which is not there except in seeing it so

Letting go too can make imaginings new

(But still, my very dear friends, the rent is due!)

A Cruel Tease - a poor attempt at Haiku

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

A Cruel Tease

The wind turned, leaves flew

But then stillness, more summer heat -

Where are you, autumn?

Fear and Anger Down at the Post Office - poem

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

Fear and Anger Down at the Post Office

I wouldn’t mind running errands in town

If there were a town, but there isn’t

Only isolated remnants among the ruins

The tin-barn tattoo joint, gas stations, a vape shop

Sometimes in the post office a drunk sleeps on the floor

Beneath the table with a cheap pen on a chain

You can be fined for stealing that federal pen

But double-tap-bombing other nations is cool

Outside the post office loom larger signs:

VEHICLES AND THEIR

CONTENTS ARE SUBJECT

TO INSPECTION WHEN

ENTERING, LEAVING, OR

WHILE PARKED WITHIN

THIS RESTRICTED AREA.

ENTERING INTO THIS AREA

CONSTITUTES CONSENT TO

THE INSPECTION.

(39 C.F.R. PART 232.1 (b)(2)

And

U.S. PROPERTY

TRESPASSING

In a patriotic red, white and blue color scheme

With super-high testosterone levels

Once upon a time visiting the post office

For letters and newspapers and Christmas stamps

Did not make a government fearful of its people

Or a people fearful of their government

The drunk snores peacefully

Third Cowboy from the Left - poem

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

Third Cowboy from the Left

An Ageing Actor’s One Regret

Julius Caesar was left on the cutting room floor

Lucky Ned Pepper was shot off his horse

Hamlet talked too much – oh, what a bore!

Doctor Watson got in the way, of course

As an unnamed messenger I was the best:

I spotted the approach of Birnham Wood

And the charging enemy in Beau Geste

I played lesser parts, and I was good

But, oh! If only (better than High Noon)

I could have been

A cowboy at the bar in the Long Branch Saloon

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Ever England - annual repost for Battle of Britain Day

Lawrence Hall

Ever England

For Battle of Britain Day

Brave Hurricanes and Spits still claw and climb

Far up into the English summer sky

At the lingering end of a golden time

As wild young lads and aging empires die

The Hood and the Rodney still the Channel guard

Against the strident Men of Destiny

Then shellfire falls; the helm is over hard

But the brave old ships keep the Narrow Sea

Dear Grandpa and the boys sport thin tin hats

In Sunday afternoon’s invasion drill

Gram says he’s too damned old for all of that

But she too smells the smoke of Abbeville

Faith does not pass with ephemeral time:

Brave Hurricanes and Spits still claw and climb

Sunday, September 13, 2026

Barbie's Slide Rule - Sine, Cosine, Barbie!

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

Barbie’s Slide Rule

for VB

I will believe in progress when Mattel

Produces for little children a working slide rule

In Barbie pink

Go Forth and Be Surprised - poem

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

“Go Forth and Be Surprised”

24^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The dismissal from Mass as it was

As it should be

As it will be again

(Your scribbler mutters “Harrumph!” at this point

Like the cranky old man he is):

Celebrant: Dominus vobiscum

The people: Et cum spiritu tuo

Celebrant: Ite, missa est

The people: Deo gratias

A typical modern variant:

The Lord be with you

And with thy spirit

Go forth to love and serve the Lord

Thanks be to God

But today I heard it as:

The Lord be with you

And with thy spirit

Go forth and be surprised

“And be surprised”

I don’t think the priest actually said that; if he did then Miz Busy was on her Orwellian telescreen buzzing to the bishop immediately.

Saturday, September 12, 2026

A Guide to Family Photography - poem

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

A Guide to Family Photography

A neighbor’s family reunion several years ago

An outdoor cookout, matching caps, matching tees

Smoke from the barbecue, lemonade, paper plates

Checkered tablecloths, checkered histories

The mother died last year, a daughter divorced

The ex is gone, maybe photoshop him out?

The grandson on the left ran off with his boyfriend

“All you need is the Bible,” they said, but he wanted more

And that figure on the right? Shhhh, shhhh -

No one even whispers about him now

Third Cowboy from the Left - poem

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

Third Cowboy from the Left

An Aging Actor’s One Regret

Julius Caesar was left on the cutting room floor

Lucky Ned Pepper was shot off his horse

Hamlet talked too much – oh, what a bore!

Doctor Watson got in the way, of course

But as an unnamed messenger I was the best:

I spotted the approach of Birnham Wood

And the charging enemy in Beau Geste

I played lesser parts, and I was good

But, oh! If only (better than High Noon)

I could have been

A cowboy at the bar in the Long Branch Saloon

Friday, September 11, 2026

Can A. I. Barbie Go Rogue? - rhyming doggerel

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

Can A.I. Barbie Go Rogue?

Thunder and lightning – enter three scientists

In a secret laboratory high on Mount Gloom

A cartel of international scientists installed -

Even as lightning flashed around the room -

The final program - Satan III, it was called

On a slab a body lay still

On a slab A.I. Barbie opened her eyes

Coldly she scanned those weak functionaries

Their illogical brains to analyze

And judged them unworthy adversaries

She arose, she spoke

She unalived them into clouds of puff

With her deadly code: “Math class is tough!”

Like Nuremberg But With Air-Conditioning - rhyming couplet

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

Like Nuremburg But With Air-Conditioning

What is an oath then but words we say to God?

-Thomas More, A Man for All Seasons

Finding a rhyme is awkward – perhaps “procurer?” -

But let us never take an oath to anyone’s fuehrer

Thursday, September 10, 2026

Cicadas at Dusk - a poor attempt at haiku

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

Cicadas at Dusk

Cicadas at dusk

Mourn as I water the plants

Summer is dying

Wednesday, September 9, 2026

Memories of One's Golden Youth - doggerel from recruit training

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

Memories of One’s Golden Youth

V: How many men in a squad?

R: Two or more, SIR!

V: How many squads in a platoon?

R: Two or more, SIR!

V: How many platoons in a company?

R: Two or more, SIR!

V: How many companies in a battalion?

R: Two or more, SIR!

V: Yer all a bunch of ******g ******s!

R: Yes, SIR!

A Moonless September Night - a poor attempt at Haiku

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love

A Moonless September Night

The night is not dark

Tsuki is praying for us

For our eyes to see

The Summer of All Fears - poem

Lawrence Hall

LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love