If, as they proclaim,

our system is so broken,

why don’t they just run amok?

~

 Why not heed Pete’s call

 for universal public

service and fix what’s broken.

Searching for acclaim,

he succeeded in making

a royal fool of himself.

~

“Everyone adores

my sartorial splendor!

I guarantee it!”

Some run for office

seeking glory and acclaim;

others, to be of service.

~

These competing goals

set the stage for all the acts

that will soon follow.

Top contenders for

the most erratic award –

Trump and the weather.

~

Heavy down-pouring

negative superlatives

flooding toward the nadir.

Can we not have youth

and wisdom concurrently?

Is there, in truth, no justice?

~

Alas, the harsh truth –

 wisdom is seldom present

no matter the age.

We never really 

know. One small step for you might

be a giant step for them.

~

To the crippled soul,

one small compassionate step

feels like a huge leap of faith.

Of tweeting the truth

he’s constitutionally

unable, or so it seems.

~

If he’d take to heart

the preamble, maybe he’d

strengthen his constitution.

Row after row of

freshly planted corn – rural

testament of faith.

~

Along comes a flood,

fueled by warming climate,

and faith is all that remains.

Some rites of passage

are to be celebrated,

others just endured.

~

It depends on where

you stand. Are you a witness

or participant?

If easy does it,

why do we continue to

make it really hard?

~

Most folk devalue

what they come by easily;

choosing labor over faith.

The ways we choose to

commemorate our fallen,

speak to what we hold most dear.

~

A fitting way to

honor their sacrifice is

to live lives worthy of it.

When the gardener

becomes completely unhinged,

Who will manage the vermin?

~

Nature has a way

of bypassing gardeners

as all rampant weeds know well.

When a president

rages in the rose garden,

do skies darken in Kansas?

~

Stormy visages

and incoherent bluster

won’t dim his faithful’s luster.

When will we react

to slowly increasing heat?

Are we not smarter than frogs

~

All creation took

a poll and they decided,

at this moment, no.

He hands out pyrite

in seeming oblivion

that his glitter has no gold.

~

Who’s fooled by fool’s gold –

the one who passes it out

or the ones who grab a load?

Why do we hurry

through our days when the sun, moon,

and stars keep a steady pace?

~

Perhaps we rebel

against time’s stately pace from

our ephemeral fears?

Rational people

can agree to disagree

while civility survives.

~

Oh Civility, 

Civility, wherefore art

thou, Civility?

If you knew where all

the flowers had gone, would you

let yourself pick one?

~

Those of us who’ve learned

listening to Uncle Pete,

pick neither fights nor flowers.

Are words relevant

when just hearing his voice breeds

instant incredulity?

~

Even though his words

lack credibility, WE

must speak. OUR words do matter.

At day’s end sun still

shines bright. I wish I could say

the same about me.

~

Our glorious sun

burns ceaselessly, day and night,

while we humans have limits.

What is the sound of

two poets past their deadline

sleeping soundly at the switch?

~

After pondering 

this poetic riddle, I

vote for the sound of silence.

I sit and wait as

my familiar companion.

anxiety, natters on.

~

That’s one companion

whose omnipresent chatter’s

best stifled by joyous song.

Lengthy silences

punctuated by quiet:

Family meal’s finest moments.

~

May we feast on this

and other such fine dining

moments when we can.

In honor of my

son and daughter, I call this

fond memories day.

~

Holy effing hell!

Where can I possibly go

from that softball pitch? Thanks, Mom!

Just because you hear

and see and speak no evil

doesn’t mean it isn’t real.

~

Sometimes evil casts

a spell so insidious

it leaves folks senseless.

As the school year ends,

how do you plan to survive

summer vacation?

~

Perhaps unending

education will teach us

not to sweat tiny details.

Sometimes things work out

even better than we plan

but can we rely on fate?

~

Whether fate turned in

our favor or not, we’re left

to work with what is.

What do you plan to

plant this Spring that you hope to

harvest this Autumn?

~

That which I would plant

now, in this bitter springtime,

will take longer to flourish

A tyrant is born

of ludicrous proposals

rational minds disregard.

~

When arrogance is

deified and ignorance

sanctified, tyrants are born

Though we know things aren’t

necessarily as they

seem, we act as though they are.

~

 From an abundance

of hope, we delude ourselves;

we fake it ’til we make it.