A university professor
Wanted to learn more about Zen,
A subject that he had never paid
Much attention to till then.

Of course, he had read many books
Explaining the various Buddhist sects
And figured that his overall knowledge
Would help him with Zen in many respects.

Meeting with the Zen master
Of a local Buddhist temple, he
Watched without speaking as
The master poured him a cup of tea.

The knowledge-hungry professor sat
Quietly, mentally exploring
The meeting room, while the sage
Sat before him, pouring and pouring.

Soon the cup was overflowing.
"Sensei,°° when are you going to quit
Pouring tea into the cup?
It's full; no more tea will fit,"

Said the professor. The master looked
At the young professor and calmly said,
"Like this cup, you are full
Of preconceptions in your head.

"You have read and studied a lot;
On many subjects, you're well versed.
But how can I show you Zen
Unless you empty YOUR cup first?"

-by Bob B (9-11-19)

°An old Zen anecdote retold here in verse
°°teacher

Madness pervades Trumplandia
As Donald Trump basks in delusion.
Lies to cover up other untruths
Are being told in mass profusion.

Cover-ups require deceit.
We can observe how they smother
The truth, for daily we are seeing
One cover-up after another.

When Trump is wrong, heaven forbid
That he admit his gaffe or mistake!
His violent storm of lies will leave
Mass confusion in its wake.

To rally support, he needs his team
Of sycophants to back his tales,
Which looks even more absurd.
The man has clearly gone off the rails.

Then he calls his henchmen forth
To use all their ammunition
To pressure officials in agencies
To lie for Trump or lose their position.

All the corruption, all the abuse
Of power is madness in every sense.
The president is living out
His fantasies at OUR expense.

Investigative journalists
Seeking the truth, in Trump's eyes,
Are the enemy of us the people
When they point out all his lies.

The TRUTH will be HIS nemesis
Instead of being OUR enemy,
For when more people's eyes are opened,
The truth is what will set us free.

-Bob B (9-10-19)

(This poem can be sung to the melody of "Maria" from WEST SIDE STORY.)(See YouTube link below.)

DJT:
My Sharpie…
The most wonderful thing I've ever held:
My Sharpie, my Sharpie, my Sharpie, my Sharpie.
All the benefits surrounding it are unparalleled.
My Sharpie, my Sharpie, my Sharpie, my Sharpie…
My Sharpie! My Sharpie!
My Sharpie!
I love what I do with my Sharpie.
We can pull together
Changes in the weather.
You'll see.
My Sharpie!
I've just made a mark with my Sharpie,
And it can be arranged:
History can be changed
By me.
My Sharpie!
Hold it tight and there's no denying
That its power is so mystifying.
My Sharpie…
I'll never stop crying: My Sharpie!
My Sharpie! My Sharpie! My Sharpie! My Sharpie!
My Sharpie! My Sharpie! My Sharpie! My Sharpie!
My Sharpie!
Hold it tight and there's no denying
That its power is so mystifying.
My Sharpie…
I'll never stop crying: My Sharpie!
The most wonderful thing I've ever held:
My Sharpie!

-by Bob B (9-6-19)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyofWTw0bqY&t=23s

Mind power! That's what she says:
Mind power. Understand?
That's what made Hurricane
Dorian turn away from the land,

According to Marianne Williamson,
Candidate for the presidency,
Which makes one wonder whether she's gone
Bonkers with a capital "B."

After the hurricane devastated
The Bahamas with a deadly force,
Williamson claims that mind power
Was able to change the huge storm's course.

Mind power kept the storm
From hammering Florida's coast.
That is why the winds and rain
Inflicted minor damage at most.

But if the mind's that powerful,
What happened to mind power when
The storm headed toward the Bahamas?
It didn’t seem to help much then.

How often has the mind altered
Storms? Hmmm. Check the stats.
I guess this shows that there are wackos
Even among the Democrats!

-by Bob B (9-4-19)

The rest of the world is totally shocked:
There is no refuting
That we have a serious problem here
With shooting after shooting.

Other countries attack the problem
By swiftly taking action.
Currently, Americans don't
Have that satisfaction.

Legislators beholden to
The gun lobby feel
That if they pass commonsense laws,
They won't have a deal.

A deal? What? Money? Donors?
The fear that they'll lose votes?
Look at all the deaths that their
Failure to act promotes!

Red flag laws? That's a start.
Background checks? A must.
Efforts to stop the violence
Must be more robust!

Assault weapons? They must go.
Instead of getting a boost,
High capacity magazines
Have to be reduced.

Strip the NRA of its power
And weaken its stranglehold
On politicians everywhere.
Weapons must be controlled.

Now THAT is what I call a start--
A commonsense response
To dealing with a deadly threat
And dangerous nonchalance.

We must wonder how many more
Shootings will take place
Before America deals with
The problem face to face.

-by Bob B (9-3-19)

A hurricane approaches--
One of the biggest we've seen--
And where's the president?
On the putting green.

Millions are preparing
For the storm to hit,
Still not knowing
What to make of it,

While the president
Spends his Labor Day
Hitting some ***** around,
Which, needless to say,

Is his typical manner
Of showing his great concern.
(Just to hear him speak
Makes one's stomach turn.

Here's a man who said
On the campaign trail
He wouldn't have time to golf.
Talk about a tale!)

Think back two years
To Hurricane Maria.
Trump thought he had
The perfect panacea:

Once in Puerto Rico,
Facing a weary crowd,
He tossed them paper towels.
Ah, he felt so proud!

His mindless hypocrisy
Is a tour de force.
I guess each faux pas
Is par for the course.

-by Bob B (9-2-19)

Credible scientists
Agree, and it is quite concerning.
We are seeing destructive effects
Of global warming: Earth is burning.

Brazilian agri-business has been
Carelessly throwing fuel on the fire,
Destroying the "lungs" of our planet and making
The situation even more dire.

The Amazon's on fire right now.
Fires are taking a heavy toll
In places all around the world.
The conflagration is out of control.

As heat-trapping gasses are
Released into the atmosphere,
Glaciers melt and oceans grow warmer,
Making hurricanes more severe.

Between climate change deniers
And a warming earth, we're in the middle,
And as Earth burns our president
Watches while he plays his fiddle.

Now he wants to roll back restrictions,
Erasing rules on methane emissions.
Methane as a heat-trapping gas
Will only worsen climate conditions.

With all his environmental rollbacks,
There is NO silver lining.
He wants to open Alaskan national
Forests to logging, drilling, and mining.

If there is a method to damage our
Environment, he will employ it.
Rather than fight to protect our earth,
The president would rather destroy it!

With all the damage Trump is doing,
If anyone says on his behalf
That he's an environmentalist,
All we can say is, "That's a laugh!"

-by Bob B (8-30-19)