“There’s a whole lot of

shaking going on” – could this

be Trump’s new theme song ?

~

Maybe “Fools Like Me”

is the Jerry Lee Lewis

tune he needs his fans to feel!

Another year passes.

Immortality whispers

enticing lies to mortal souls.

~

If only we were

 enticed to be completely

here in mortal dress.

The fortunate few

find real satisfaction in

doing what they have to do.

~

For the rest of us,

our vocational pursuits

fund our real satisfaction.

After traveling

miles in a driving rain,

after-images remain.

~

May fresh images

come to you in restful sleep

now that driving’s done.

Our own Neros are

fiddling while the world

burns. What can we do?

~

Fling open the gates

and embrace the Visigoths

as they rush in to plunder.

Bitter arctic winds

place an exclamation point

upon protracted autumn.

~

And yet we’re warmed by

the spontaneous kindness 

of strangers, family, and friends.

In your poetic

opinion, which nursery rhyme

best describes these times?

~

 “He stuck in his thumb”

seems like the modern model

of ill-gotten gains.

Where, oh where, has my

fellow poet gone? Where, oh

where  can he possibly be?

~

Gone to the city

to prevent the deranged from

committing atrocities…