Lawrence Hall
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Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                          CBS Remembers the Bishop of Rome

They took Norah O’Donnell down from the shelf
To make the death of Pope Francis all about herself

Lawrence Hall
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Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                Did Anyone Think to Roll the Stone Back into Place?

Easter Monday

Did cemetery management offer a refund?
(High quality burials don’t come cheap, you know)
And what happened to the guards posted to that tomb?
Probably a disciplinary write-up

Easter Tuesday

Upper Room Inc. sent a bill for a missing Cup
(We can’t have people pinching stuff, okay?)
At least it wasn’t a fraternity party
And the taxes these days; you wouldn’t believe!

Easter Wednesday

This stuff about miracles just makes me scoff
(Say, boss, can I have this next Sunday off?)

Lawrence Hall
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Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                                     The Nunc Dimittis in Two Parts


I. Simeon

A young man wouldn’t get it
Which is one of the reasons why
In humility he hears
The Bible all his life


II. Anna

A young man wouldn’t get it
Because he doesn’t hear
The humility all around
He talks instead of listens

Lawrence Hall
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Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                             The Silences of Holy Saturday

The world - it seems to hold its breath today
Low and stilly hang the heavy clouds
Even the birds don’t seem to know their way
They wing in silence – and where are yesterday’s crowds?

Lawrence Hall
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Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                               A New Medication and its Cautions

One of the side-effects of my new med is death
Along with garbled speech and all the reth
Right here on this enclosure; that’s what it saith -
And when I read of death I lost my breath!

Lawrence Hall
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Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                  Together We Have All Suffered Nights on Weathertop

                                         Gratitude for Friends

We have suffered nights on Weathertop
Made a perimeter against bleak despair
Surrounded in the dark by yet more dark
Chilling us, choking us in miasms of fear

Shhhhh, shhhh – out there – THEY are here – they are HERE!
Confusion and terror, a poisonous blade
Hissings and terror, and deep-fouled temptations
And afterward through the years a deep-fouled pain

Each of us suffers a wound that never mends -
But by the grace of Elbereth we are all stout friends

Lawrence Hall
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Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                 A Reformation Wheeze – No Smoking, Please!

Should Catholics grow nervous if invited to
A good old-fashioned Smithfield barbecue?




NB: In the USA Smithfield Foods is a highly regarded purveyor of foodstuffs, most notably pork.