Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
Is There a Thai Army Knife?
“A man’s not dressed without his pocketknife”
-my father, and surely yours
At Christmas friends
give me Swiss Army Knives
Precisely engineered
with all those nifty tools
A most useful
adjunct in all men’s lives
For camp and work,
this little gadget rules
Most days I carry my
British Army Knife
Rough and tough;
it’ll take it on the chin
The workman’s friend
both in peace and strife
(Oh, golly-gosh, the
hinge is broken again!)
What knife is
carried by a Thai G.I.?
Does the Garuda or Elephant
adorn its grip?
When guarding a
great nation’s land and sky
A soldier needs a
blade of fine craftsmanship
And in peace, too:
It’s true of every worker,
all through his life -
A man’s not dressed
without his pocketknife
(Just ask your father)
