Aunt Em received a letter from Dorothy--
A curious one in which she said
That even though she liked it in Oz,
She'd rather be back home instead.

Then she told her aunt about
Something she'd never seen on the plains:
A person lacking THREE important
Things: courage, a heart, and brains!

"The Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Lion, of course:
Each lacked ONE of those three things.
It's scary to know there's someone who
Possesses NONE of those three things."

Aunt Em replied, "I know it's strange
To find someone who lacks all three.
But I'm afraid you're not in Oz;
You’re in Washington, D.C.!”

-by Bob B (4-20-25)

(inspired by an anonymous Facebook post)

You'd better mind your p's and q's
And pay attention to the news
Or you'll be stuck forevermore
In a prison in El Salvador.

Trump has made a special deal
With that country, and it's real.
And CECOT° gets Trump's rubber stamp
For being a concentration camp.

Deportees are being--you see--
Sent there quite illegally.
Watch out if you have a tattoo,
For Trump might say good-bye to you,

And off to the prison you'll be flown,
Down there in the torrid zone.
Forget due process; it doesn't exist
For those on Trump's get-rid-of list.

People with even a legal status
Are victims of Trump's apparatus
Of hate and fear and terror and find
Themselves locked up in a real bind.

Once you're there, your rights have ceased.
Most likely, you won't be released.
Even if they admit mistakes,
The government says, Hey, that's the breaks.

Today deportees; tomorrow who knows
Will join the prisoners. That's how it goes
When autocrats are in control
And total power is their goal.

-by Bob B (4-17-25)

°Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (Terrorism Confinement Center)

Our spirits hover over the rubble--
Here and there a school or dwelling,
An abandoned camp or a hospital--
Targets of constant Israeli shelling.

We see our bodies within the debris--
Along with our siblings, our fathers and mothers,
Doctors, teachers, journalists, medics,
Aid-workers and many others.

We see the doctors desperately
Treating the injured with few supplies.
Cries of anguish and pain fill the night
As rockets carry more bombs through the skies.

While Palestinians are under attack
And tens of thousands of people have died,
The world wastes its time debating
"IS it or ISN'T it genocide?"

"Ethnic cleansing"--whatever you call it--
Is ****** on a scale that is grand.
It's Netanyahu's excuse to commit
Atrocities in the "holy land."

A fantasy of the "chosen people"?
Thousands of years of tribal strife,
Blood, ******, vengeance, violence…
Lies in the scriptures come to life.

Countries supplying Netanyahu
With deadly weapons, have you no shame?
Have you lost your sense of compassion?
In what he's doing, you share the blame.

Our spirits hover; our sadness lingers.
We yearn for the madness and killing to cease.
We yearn for an amicable resolution.
Will we be able to rest in peace?

-by Bob B (4-16-25)

I no longer recognize
These United States.
In my lifetime, we've never been
In such desperate straits.

Due process for many folks
Is widely being denied.
We are seeing the Constitution
Being cast aside.

The power-hungry president
Constantly tries to extort
Favors from others and threatens them if
He doesn't get their support.

The rule of law is currently being
Eroded by the hour
To give the demented president
Authoritarian power.

Trumplicans watch him defy the courts,
And they're okay with it.
He could spit in their faces, and yes,
He'd get away with it.

He treats the DOJ as though
It's his private firm,
And AG Bondi wants to make
Trump's dissenters squirm.

The envy of the world was our
Economy when he
Ascended the throne, but now the mess
He's making is sad to see.

He doesn't care if people might suffer
From a Trump recession.
Doesn't he understand that tariffs
Worsened the Great Depression?

Trump and his administration
Will not back away
From trying to have control over
What we do and say.

His many executive orders are being
Challenged, but he doesn't care.
He derives great Schadenfreude
From other people's despair.

"America the Beautiful"
Is now a different song.
It's lyrics must reflect what is
Occurring. Sing along:

How sad it is to see this land
Become what it's become!
The president looks down on us
As though we're worthless ****.
America! America!
Please say it's not too late.
Democracy? Autocracy?
Oh, what will be our fate?

-by Bob B (4-12-25)

If you listen, you will hear
The sounds of discontent
As the people join together to
Defy the president.

We meet to send a message to
The one who would be king,
Who only pays attention to
The sounds that go ker-ching.

You'll see us on the sidewalks
And in parks and city squares,
As we say we are tired of being
Controlled by billionaires.

The president thinks it's okay
To do whatever he wants.
He knows that Republicans
Will fear his jeers and taunts.

Every effort is being made
For people to be erased
From history. The government
Is doing it in great haste.

We watch as many people now
Are forced to live in fear.
They try to live their daily lives;
Then BAM! they disappear.

They're sent off to prison that
Is in a far-off land.
How people can put up with this
Is hard to understand.

The DOJ's being weaponized.
Trump says it's required
That anyone not loyal to him
Be canned, be ousted, be fired!

Needless tariffs are raising prices;
People are losing employment.
The pain we suffer seems to add
To Musk's and Trump's enjoyment.

Our health's in greater jeopardy;
Our safety's less secure.
If we don't fight, however will
Democracy endure?

If you love America,
Speak up! Make a fuss!
No for tyranny! Yes for freedom!
March along with us!

-by Bob B (4-8-25)

Our economy is a mess.
What else would anyone expect?
Experts say that Trump's huge tariffs
Will have a devastating effect.

Millions of people are hitting the streets.
Wall Street folks are feeling grim
As they acknowledge that Donald Trump
Is someone who runs the country by whim.

When Trump was reelected to office,
The nation was in excellent shape
Economically, but now
Economists watch with mouths agape.

Will Trump listen to experts? No!
He, instead, has made it clear
That if you are a conspiracy theorist,
You will surely have his ear.

The wackier you are the better;
Your crazy theories are your tools.
Therefore, we have quickly become
A country run by dangerous fools.

Republicans in Congress could stop him.
But, no, they'd rather toe the line
And do what their puppeteer makes them do.
How can one live without a spine?

As workers are being fired from their jobs
And prices rise, there's no remorse
From Trump who's merrily playing golf
On his Florida golfing course.

He keeps doubling down on his tariffs
And says they are a beautiful thing--
A stupid comment to make; however,
He doesn't care, for he's the king.

-by Bob B (4-7-25)