Inscribed on paper,

a few simple black markings

can change the course of history.

~

We fervently hope

those who make those markings treat

all creation with respect.

Family gatherings –

when we all come together

and we sometimes wonder why

~

While we’re pondering

this self-flagellation,

have another glass of wine.

Will they ever learn?

If they want to dodge the tongue,

they just need to do their job!

~

Spoken as only

one who has met the tongue and

lived can tell the tale.

Any words to help

parents get through these last few

days of a rainy summer?

~

Unless your children

are actually witches,

rain will not melt them.

The “unitary

executive”: code word for

an autocratic despot.

~

“Fake news”: the code word

for uncomfortable truths such

“executives” can’t abide.

It wasn’t what was

said, it was the way it was

said that made my day lighter.

~

Often silence speaks

much more loudly and clearly

than some insincere mumble.

Air filled with portent,

intangible voltages

seeking easy paths to ground.

~

Those who know lightning

can strike twice are following

Trump’s explosive tweets.

Equanimity 

sometimes appears unsought if

we apply what we’ve been taught.

~

Since adversity

teaches how not to react,

some deserve Masters Degrees.

Bathed in their hatred,

must we muster compassion

as they call us sub-human?

~

If we see the pain

beneath their hatred, we’ll bathe

in our shared humanity.

Red in tooth and claw –

a description of D. Trump’s

new Republican Party?

~

Evolution, friends,

only happens under stress;

a Phoenix from the ashes?

Gently falling rain,

now and then, punctuated

by sight obscuring downpours.

~

Those sight obscuring

downpours have served as a meme

for Trump’s presidential tweets.

When name-calling fails,

bullying falters, and tweets

stutter, what comes next?

~

Denial, anger,

bargaining, then depression,

until, at last, acceptance.

When what is “lawful”

is divorced from what is “right”,

which master is better served?

~

Such a divorce serves

humankind’s lower nature

and ignores its higher one.

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.