I know patience is
a virtue but sometimes it
is hard to be virtuous.
~
And anger, a vice.
Why is it much easier
to retreat to viciousness?
I know patience is
a virtue but sometimes it
is hard to be virtuous.
~
And anger, a vice.
Why is it much easier
to retreat to viciousness?
Who could even tell
if the government shut down?
It’s been gridlocked for decades.
~
Government Service
is a high calling for those
who know how to serve.
Reset and restart –
a suggested agenda
for a nation gone astray.
~
Too late to recall
our recent dubious choice
but we could not re-elect.
Doesn’t that fool know
even allies become foes
when you grab their bottom line?
~
If those allies are
also foolish, they’ll remain
loyal even so.
If we aren’t Native
Americans, are we not
illegal immigrants too?
~
Now let’s split some hairs:
Since we’re legal emigrants,
somebody gave us status!
Since he’s free to say
all these ridiculous things,
we’re free to ridicule him.
~
What is it they say –
freedom’s just another word
for nothing left to lose?
Complicit silence –
expediency’s coin to
assuage Tyranny’s piper.
~
Egomaniacs
hear all noise as ringing praise;
silence; implicit consent.
If you thought today
represents stupidity,
just wait until tomorrow.
~
It’s not the day nor
the hour; rather, it is
our nation’s Tweeter-in-Chief.
When Obama speaks,
sentences are complete. Hope,
not hate, is offered.
~
Huge elitist snob…
clearly he’s not one of us…
show that boy he don’t belong.
Promises of rain,
here in the height of summer,
buoy weary souls.
~
But a whole week’s worth
will dampen the spirits of
even the most buoyed souls.
You can’t claim respect
by clinging to another’s
vision. You must find your own.
~
Looking back on it,
some folk are often confused
with respect to blind respect.
Time marches on, but
sometimes we poets misstep,
lose the beat, retreat.
~
And when we falter
we must, somehow, remember
to refrain from self-faulting.
Sudden summer rains
bring unexpected relief
from smoldering heat.
~
Though ephemeral,
who can’t appreciate this
respite from sultry weather.
How much smoke must rise
before deniers admit
that, somewhere, something’s burning?
~
It wasn’t only
Nero who fiddled while Rome
burned – we are doing this too.
What lies ahead, we
don’t know. What we know is this:
where he goes, drama unfolds.
~
Some blame lightning rods
for drawing the lightning but
generators make current.
When there’s endless noise,
loudly signifying naught,
there may be a void of thought.
~
Sounds like you’ve been tuned
to Trump Broadcasting System.
Try switching channels.
How many times can
you cry fake news before they
carry you away?
~
Like That little boy,
oh so fond of crying “Wolf”,
when it’s real, you’re ignored.
One towering oak
can’t a healthy forest make;
No one thrives alone.
~
As Thich Naht Hanh says,
“we inter-are”. How well we’ll
grow when this we deeply know!
Let us listen to
the wind whisper secrets to
the trees – natural wisdom.
~
That’s a much better
whisper to which to attend
than hatred’s sharp scirocco.
When the “new normal”
begins to seem psychotic,
what is the best sane response?
~
Become abnormal
as fast as you can and join
with others marginalized.
At seventy-five
this is what I have to say:
find what you love and do it.
~
And at fifty-three
I have but one caveat:
live a lifestyle your love buys!
What purpose is served,
on this ninety degree day,
by that giant bonfire?
~
Got kids out of house,
roasted hot dogs, burned private
records – a three-in-one win.
We leave behind our
own humanity when we
deny others theirs.
~
Those without a soul
don’t know ’bout humanity
neither do they care to learn.
There’s healing power
in hard, manual labor.
Is this why our culture’s sick?
~
If those at the top
used their power and paid good
wages, we’d be well.
Trump’s minions quickly
come in, pause, go out, leaving
chaos in their wake.
~
Some would say chaos
is just part of the milieu
in Trump’s “White House” asylum.
When the smoke obscures
the fireworks display, that’s
excessive exuberance.
~
By now we should be
used to smoke that obscures. That’s
what our president is for.
Wandering among
the stars, she suddenly saw
that moon-jumping cow.
~
Realizing she
was that fabled dish, she thought,
“Where’s that spoon run off to now!”
Loudly, the masses,
proclaim their independence
eschewing diversity.
~
We know who they are
who proclaim independence
and eschew the truth.
As July simmers
we whimper, wishing for cool
days and cooler nights.
~
Until we get them!
Then we’ll all wail and whine for
halcyon summer splendor!
Negotiating
life’s little disappointments
is how we learn happiness.
~
We can till the ground
and tend the soil so that
happiness can bloom.