Did You Enjoy Your Christmas? - poem

 

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

Did You Enjoy Your Christmas?

 

 

Christmas Night

 

 

That merry little Christmas that they sing about –

Did you open your gifts around a tree

Tinsel and ornaments and a brilliant star

Pajamas and cocoa and merriment

 

Did you enjoy a dinner with someone special

Or with happy children and a few friends

Then coffee and cake and quiet memories

Everyone free from telescreens and devices

 

And now with a fire and soft candlelight

Is this another gentle silent night?

 

I hope it is so, dear friend

O Little Front Line of Bethlehem - for Christmas Eve

 

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

O Little Front Line of Bethlehem

 

Stopped and questioned multiple checkpoints

A search of their persons and their vehicle

And a stern warning from the local patrol:

“You are not permitted to draw on public funds”

 

The Holy Family arrives at last at a no-tell inn

“I need to see two forms of identification

And a major credit card from any on this list

Fresh linens are extra; the ice machine is broken”

 

Surly men in grubby camouflage smoke cigarettes

Occasional gunfire lights up the noisy night

Last Christmas I Gave You my Pancreas - a wheeze

 (from The Saint Tibbs' Day Songbook)

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

Last Christmas I Gave You my Pancreas

 

I thought there was an idea here

But maybe not

                             Just a few questions, ma’am

About the guy who received your heart and gave it away

Did he drop it off at a re-sale shop?

 

Giving a body part at Christmas is sing-able

Because

“Last Septuagesima Sunday I gave you my heart”

Is not something you can dance to easily

Especially if you have no cardio-pulmonary functions

 

I thought there was an idea here

Maybe it’s those Nyquil dreams again…

For Two Dear Children on Christmas - couplet

 

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

 

For Cate and Jack

 

Or Jack and Cate?

 

On Christmas

 

 

Certain joys about Christmas are always true

For among the season’s constant blessings

                                                          Are you!

Do Dogs Have Souls? Do We? - poem

  

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

Do Dogs Have Souls?

 

“Behold, I make all things new.”

 

Revelations 21:3-5

 

Do dogs have souls?

Oh, how can one look into those big brown eyes

And not know the answer

Our Dear Leader in His Jet Pilot Sunglasses - doggerel

 

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

Our Dear Leader in His Jet Pilot Sunglasses

 

Democracy is dead, a memory, a husk

Selected, not elected: President Musk

By Reading This Content You Agree to OUR Privacy Policy - poem

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

By Reading This Content You Agree to Our Privacy Policy

 

 

It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander

when you were…within range of a telescreen.

 

-Orwell, 1984

 

 

But your privacy? Nah; deal with it, you see

Baked beans, magazines and mountain scenes

Vacation trips and handy houseware tips -

They see you, they know you, they hunt you

 

Podcasts, partisan views, gossipy news

Engine parts, how-to vids, and funny kids

Treating head lice, tax advice, dancing mice

They see you, they know you, they hunt you

 

Through your made-in-Shanghai Palantir

Adverts will forever make you fear,

My Precious

 

(“Palantir” is here an allusion to Tolkien’s genius, not to the software people.)