With summer almost

upon us, any advice

for kids and parents?

~

Find the time to break

away from work and go play

together sometime each day.

Oh, the aroma

of peach and hickory smoke

rising slowly from the grill.

~

A time of year filled

with enticing smells making 

mouths water and stomachs growl.

 Who do you think will

ultimately win this late

spring tug of war, sun or rain?

~

Although wind and rain

may seem to carry the day,

in the end, the sunshine wins.

Any brief reprieve

from welcome summer swelter

may bring unwelcome relief.

~

Masochists welcome

summer swelter and bewail

relief even if it’s brief.

When an attack on

the press becomes physical,

brutality trumps reason.

~

In Big Sky Country,

brutality is common

frequently without reason.

Must we educate

our children to fear and hate

instead of to love and care?

~

Fear and hate stifle

curiosity, deaden

the souls of teachers and taught.

Maybe it’s better

to lay off when my mondo

partner is laid low.

~

Wasting breath on verse

even to one’s dying gasp

is a mark of high regard.

When the crud’s creeping,

smothering each breath beneath

wheezing, what is one to do?

~

One rests, takes prescribed

medication, types their post,

struggles with crudulity.

How many guns do 

we have to sell in order

to buy hearts and minds?

~

Hearts and minds are bought

by offering open hearts

and holding our minds open.

It’s easier to call

all the shots from your arm chair.

Have you found this true, Donald?

~

He doesn’t sit still,

they say. He shoots from the hip

as he slithers, tweets, and twitters.

Do those in power

have the heart to do not what’s

expedient, but what’s right?

~

Power is heartless.

It requires direction

to produce meaningful work.

How far can you push

a bruised and fractured ego

before all reason tatters?

~

Also how far can 

such an ego push before

national patience shatters?

A diagnostic

field day has been graciously

provided by our president.

~

Leaving armchair shrinks

ample room to speculate

on the madness of the chief.

With Mueller mulling

over all sins great and small,

will we learn the honest truth?

~

For the first time since

this season’s sins began, hope

for an honest outcome springs.

Amid all his tweets

and twitters do you ever

get the shakes and shivers?

~

That twittering tit,

such a narcissistic nit,

leads us to shivering fits!

At this hectic pace,

is it any wonder we

crave a hole to hide within?

~

If we want our world

to slow its spin, it’s about

time we look within.

Ok, let’s review.

What is it that happens when

good men do nothing?

~

Evil has a chance

to reign triumphant, at least

that’s what tea party signs say.

This glowing sunset

renews the weary spirit

after a day of showers.

~

So mesmerized was

I by sunset’s renewing

glow, I let all worry go.

What do we do when

we’re waylaid by wandering

minstrels of untruth?

~

Strike up the band,

play them an honest ballad,

and sing them right out of town.

The fastest sprinter

can’t outrun a tsunami

if he can’t find the high ground.

~

And neither can he

plumb the depths if it turns out

no depth can be found.

What fires is he

trying to put out when he

fires his fire fanner?

~

Perhaps he just likes

the sound his vocal cords make

when he utters, “You’re fired.”

Why must some stake out

little bits of turf and fight

to the death defending them?

~

If we could figure

out the why maybe we would

not need the why and wherefore.

Have we elected

a wizard as president

or have we merely gone to Oz?

~

Just so we pull back

that blasted emerald curtain,

it will all work out!

Eyes deceived by nose.

The fragrance of privet lends

luster to a wilted rose.

~

In time our eyes will 

see what that sweet smell conceals –

 privet’s take-over attempt.

What can we do to

stay afloat when the House of

Reps threatens to sink our boat?

~

We can stay afloat

if we all get out and vote

in a tide that lifts all boats.

If there is no good

and neither is there evil,

upon what can we rely?

~

You might ask Nietzsche,

alone on a mountain top,

beyond good and evil.

 Frost said, “Something there

is that doesn’t love a wall.”

but what does a poet know?

~

Some poets know much

both of love and walls they say

“Good fences make good neighbours.”

On this sunny morn,

with these delightful breezes,

how can one be grim?

~

Ah, if one really

tries, grimness is only a

few negative thoughts away.

What might a poet

and a politician have

to say to one another?

~

Whatever they say,

neither one will comprehend

as they speak in different tongues.