Lawrence Hall
Dispatches
for the Colonial Office
Do Dreams Fade Away at Dawn? Or Do We?
Do dreams beyond the dreamer
dream
The imagined lands from deepest
night
In which we live and seem to love
-
Do they exist at morning’s
light?
Saturday, February 1, 2025
Do Dreams Fade Away at Dawn? Or Do We? - short poem
It Became Necessary to Destroy the Constitution to Save It - poem
Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
It Became Necessary to Destroy the Constitution to Save It
-as an unnamed army major in Viet-Nam did not say
When old Rip Van Me wakes up each morning he finds
A world unlike the one when his nap began -
Who are these angry faces on great screens?
Why are there cracks in the Capitol dome?
Arrests and deportations, mobs with clench’ed fists
Grim armored vehicles patrolling our city streets
A presidential advisor hurling Nazi salutes
Personal loyalty checks within our surveillance state
When old Rip Van Me wakes up each morning he finds
A nation of madmen who have lost their minds
Thursday, January 30, 2025
Flight 5342 - poem
Lawrence Hall
Dispatches
for the Colonial Office
Happy Young Lives Rich with Promise
“I will go in to the Altar of God”
Ephemera among the searchlight beams:
A paperback novel, a Mickey Mouse doll
Purses and ‘phones, and in-flight magazines
Briefcases still securing important work
Ephemera among the searchlight beams:
A note about souvenirs for the kids back home
From the Folger and the aerospace museum
Ice skates in the bins, safely stowed away
But now
Now lost to us among the searchlight beams:
Happy young lives rich with promises and dreams
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Cancelling the InterGossip Service - not exacly a poem
Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
Cancelling the InterGossip Service
And how are you today I am so very glad to hear that thank you sir you have paid today so we won’t be able to cancel the service until next month I am so glad to hear that we need a mailing address so that we can send you a box for the equipment thank you sir no a post office box won’t do I am sorry sir you are breaking up yes sir let me read that back to you thank you sir let me verify your account number that is correct and thank you I will need your zip code will you repeat that thank you but our records show that your service address is oh that is not it please tell me again thank you sir I will read it back to you thank you sir you will have thirty days from the twenty-seventh of next month to return the equipment in the box we will provide to you at your mailing address and I have that mailing address so thank you sir if you will wait two minutes while I access your file thank you sir and I will need your mailing address oh I see I have that sir for the equipment return thank you sir which will cost you $350 if it is not returned thank you sir and now I must read you this list now if you have any questions if you will please wait two minutes thank you sir and may I ask why you are discontinuing service and are you moving sir if you will wait two minutes while I update your records thank you sir and I have your mailing address and may I ask why you are discontinuing service with us oh I am so sorry sir but did they tell you it is fibre optic I understand sir before we go I want to advise you that because you are a long-time customer we have a special offer thank you sir I am happy to have helped you sir and I hope you have a good rest of the day
Guarding Borders Against Criminals - poem
Lawrence Hall
Dispatches
for the Colonial Office
Guarding Borders
Against Criminals
In any case we are not attacking them
at all. We are offering them incalculable benefits.
― T.H. White, The Once and
Future King
They began settling here a long time ago
At first they were welcome, but they developed a ‘tude
We need their charity - they tell us so!
But their intentions are obvious and crude
With insolence, edict, and a heavy political hand
They’ve come to save us from ourselves; that’s what they
say
Here in our beloved Canada, our home and native land –
Oh, won’t the Americans just go away!
A Corporal Who Would Never Be a Sergeant - poem
Lawrence Hall
Dispatches
for the Colonial Office
A Corporal Who
Would Never Be a Sergeant
He was a corporal who would
never be a sergeant
In a Palmach squad that would
never be recognized
By the Palmach or by the
Haganah.
He was a rabbi of the rocks
and rubble and roads
He would never be recognized
as a rabbi
He loved a curly-haired girl
who would never marry him
And was friends with a little
feral dog
Who crept out to him from behind
the ruins
There was blood that called
to him from Poland
In Yiddish and Hebrew; he
didn’t remember why
He was a luftmensch, but
dependable in his way
A littleness never admitted
to staff meetings
He did what he was told to
do, and then ignored
He delivered messages and
curious packages
To obscure points forbidden
to him and his kind
And the dog was shot dead for
someone’s sport
With an old British rifle he
cleared strongpoints
So that the officers could
add to their resumes’
And he was told by the cooks
that he was too late
As they laughed and closed
the door on him
Confusion and smoke, and
fighting in the streets
Burning corpses and armored
cars, wild screams
There was little of him after
the RPG hit
And children scurried out to mutilate
and steal
He was posted as missing, possibly
a deserter
Monday, January 27, 2025
Late January is a Time of Grey - poem
Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
Late January is a Time of Grey
I read a little in Billy Collins just now
Because Tolkien is in the other room
Along with the laundry and an unmade bed
Late January is a time of grey
I just want to sit with my coffee awhile
And then I’ll stow the laundry and make the bed
The dishwasher can remain silent until tomorrow
Late January is a time of grey
I was nibbled to death by ducks today
Because
Late January is a time of grey
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