Where We Grew Up is not Where We Are - against ICE

  

Lawrence Hall

Mhall46184@aol.com

Dispatches for the Colonial Office

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

Home - Hello Poetry

 

Where We Grew Up is not Where We Are

 

Our fathers strong, home from Europe and the Pacific

Worked confidently at building a peaceful America

Lean, weathered, war-weary men in chambray shirts

Who sweated to make their crops and cattle grow

 

But the feed store shut up shop in the 60s

The gas station pushes eight-liners and vapes

The old picture show where John Wayne rode

Is now a missionary Christian fellowship or something

 

The drugstore with the best comic books burned long ago

Once-busy sidewalks are mostly weeds and grass

Our favorite rocker on the A.M. radio

Has long since been Forest Lawned in bronze

 

Our fathers are buried, and on the palantir

A man in an SS coat orders us to report each other

Antibiotic-Go-'Round - doggerel

 

Lawrence Hall

Mhall46184@aol.com

Dispatches for the Colonial Office

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

Home - Hello Poetry

 

Antibiotic-Go-‘Round

 

The dermatologist cut away part of my ear

          Truth!

The maxillo-facial surgeon cut out my impacted

          Tooth!

They negotiate now which antibiotic to use

To void the chances of infection or bruise

 

“Gentlemen,” I say,

 

“Weigh each certainty against a doubt

But both the original ear and tooth are out!”

Hecho en China - poem

  

Lawrence Hall

Mhall46184@aol.com

Dispatches for the Colonial Office

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

Home - Hello Poetry

 

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?”

January - Soup and Peace for All - poem

 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!

It's All Anne Frank's Fault - poem

 

Lawrence Hall

Mhall46184@aol.com

Dispatches for the Colonial Office

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

Home - Hello Poetry

 

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”

Thank You for Your Attention to This Matter - doggerel

 

Lawrence Hall

Mhall46184@aol.com

Dispatches for the Colonial Office

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

Home - Hello Poetry

 

Thank You for Your Attention to This Matter

 

Both sides waving American flags

Bodies in the streets like bundles of rags

Laundry on a Snowy Day - poem

 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!