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.

When the race is run

and you’re gasping for your breath

to what will you look forward?

~

I’ll look forward to

looking back – glad that even

though I faltered, I still ran.

This May Day let’s leave

 virtual reality,

take a stroll, smell the flowers.

~

Decorate Maypoles

and leap the Beltane fires 

among other rites of spring.

In these darkened times

at least we still have dragons

to show which way the wind blows!

~

In a constant spin

dragons follow shifting winds,

but to what avail?

Image copyright 2017 Beq Parker

By the time climate

change deniers wake up will

there be anything to see?

~

Maybe they’ll wake up

just to see an angry sea

nipping at their knees.

Where does freedom stop

and responsibility

for community begin?

~

Freedom doesn’t stop

when responsibility 

begins; instead, it’s enhanced.

When will supporters

open their eyes and see their

emperor is without clothes?

~

More importantly,

when will the emperor see

and on whom shall he lay blame?

When dumb and dumber

threaten the peace of the world,

what can simple peons do?

~

They can stop watching

Fox News, put on their walking

shoes and get out there and vote.

With so much at stake 

how could we have elected

such a great big flake? 

~

Fools thought the system

to be profoundly broken;

now can they grasp their mistake?

Why are some deceived 

when infamous oligarchs

dress in populist clothing?

~

It is the custom 

of wolves to dress themselves in

sheeps’ clothing and dine quite well.

What is this process

of learning and unlearning?

Why can’t we just get it right?

~

Nothing is unlearned!

Some things learned must be relearned

in the process of progress.

Celebrate “Earth Day”

by amending behavior

and mending the damage done.

~

May we come to see 

ourselves as just one part of

an interdependent whole.

Answers are given

to questions that are not asked.

Is Spicer speaking?

~

When Spicer’s speaking,

as much as they may crave them,

nobody’s getting answers.

After this long day

aggressive decompression

just came out to play

~

After a long day

decompression, passive or

aggressive, goes a long way.

If we surrender

our need to control will we

become cogs in others’ wheels?

~

Control is a myth,

not something to surrender;

but we can gum up the works.

Can we be prepared

for coming atrocities

perpetrated in our name?

~

Let us begin now

to make such atrocities

a thing of the past.

He took it all, but

took nothing in so always

he had to go back for more.

~

Resources squandered

to no discernible gain

most always leave one hungry.

Must we just accept

petulant protestations

of our twitterer in chief?

~

They say a divine

spark is within each of us.

Reject tweets; look for the spark.

Once upon a time,

in a land so far away,

people lived in peace.

~

Fairy tales always

begin that way. How can we 

bring that far away land home?

Did you know that when

a group of poets gather

they’re referred to as a Heard?

~

It’s also well known

that gathering four poets

will produce a fifth.

How can we find joy

when we bathe, regularly,

in sludgy human psyche?

~

As kids we loved to

 play in mud. Perhaps we can

bypass adult aversion.