In his most recent letter, Matt gave me permission to post this poem, which he wrote: It's entitled "Pearl Harbor".

"The buzzing bees with wings of steel
Raining fire from aft to keel
The knell of death at a place called Pearl,
At the behest of a propeller's whirl

The heavens filled with rising suns,
Vessels vanish by their tons,
The flag not down but tattered so,
Witness to the growing woe

On the decks some manage to resist,
Against the odds they deign to persist,
The outcome though no matter in doubt,
The advantage of surprise makes the battle a rout

The screams of sailors no ears to hear,
In the prime of youth both strength and fear,
Fortunes suddenly torn asunder,
As a cloudless day continues to thunder

Beneath the waves they meet their tomb,
No chance to fight a hastened doom,
At long last the air is calm,
But this provides no soothing balm."

By Matthew F. Hale
#15177-424
U.S. Penitentiary Max
PO Box 8500,
Florence, CO 81226-8500

NOTE: Again I urge VNN'ers to send what monies you can afford for Matt's Defense fund to his mother at:

Evelyn Hutcheson
102 Crescent Avenue,
East Peoria, IL 61611

And drop him a few lines to let him know he's not forgotten. Reading between his lines, I'm convinced he gets very few letters. He'll be especially delighted to receive letters from single ladies. He said as much in one of his letters.