D.T.:
Why does everybody
Always want to see
My tax returns?
If I could have a secret,
It really ought to be
My tax returns.
Inflating values to get your loans:
There is really nothing to it.
Deflating values to lower taxes:
Doesn’t everybody do it?

Why do prosecutors
Want to have in hand
My tax returns?
I don’t think it’s fair
That they can all demand
My tax returns.
When you’re rich, doesn’t that mean
You should get a little break?
I’m in trouble mainly because
I give far less than I take.

I’m being hassled
‘Cause I want to hide
My tax returns.
Judges are stupid
To say I must provide
My tax returns.
If they say I committed fraud,
I’ll say that’s just fake news.
If they try to make me talk,
I will simply refuse!

I know that my fans
Don’t give a hoot about
My tax returns.
I can cheat and they’ll say that’s okay.
Winning means having all the right tools
To maneuver your way around the rules.
I’m *******
Because I have to show
MY TAX RETURNS!

-by Bob B (2-26-21)

Marian Anderson was called
The "Voice of the Century" back in her time.
But her rise to fame and approval
Certainly wasn't an easy climb.

She knew when she was six years old
And sang in a choir at church that she
Planned to devote her life to music.
A well-trained singer was what she'd be.

The Philadelphia Musical
Academy was her glorious dream.
But she was told that "colored people"
Weren't allowed--a recurring theme.

And so she found a voice teacher
And tried to perform wherever she could.
Dance halls were a popular venue
Throughout the Harlem neighborhood.

When her New York Town Hall debut
Bombed as critics picked her apart,
In 1927 she sailed
To Europe, where she could polish her art.

Her time in Sweden, Germany,
Paris and London was time well spent.
Having developed her artistry,
Anderson triumphed wherever she went.

Germany in the 1930s…
******'s power grab gave her pause.
Anderson was dismayed to hear him
Praise America's Jim Crow laws.

Back to America she sailed,
Where she would be celebrated.
To packed houses she sang, although
Most of the venues were segregated.

At one moving performance Anderson
Entered the stage and faced the crowd.
Then she turned to the black section
With deep humility and bowed.

In 1939 the plan:
A concert at Constitution Hall.
However, the DAR° refused
To let her perform. Another wall.

She gave a concert instead on the steps
Of the Lincoln Memorial to powerful raves.
A giant crowd attended. Her voice
Was also transmitted on radio waves.

In 1950 Anderson married
Orpheus Fisher. Unusual name.
Way back when she was starting out,
Orpheus had been her old flame.

In 1955 the Met°°
Broke the color bar. That year
Anderson sang in an opera--
For some the capstone of her career.

In '63 once again
Marian Anderson broadened her scope
And sang at the March on Washington.
She refused to give up hope.

She died at the age of ninety-six.
For many years the world was blessed
With having this diva, who knew first-hand
What it was like to be oppressed.

Her rich, expressive, contralto voice
Had a vibrant, velvety sound.
She sang with beauty and poise and grace.
No wonder she was so renowned!

Listen to her sing "Deep River."
Note her phrasing, her voice control.
How can you hear her and not feel her voice
Penetrate your very soul?

-by Bob B (2-22-21)

°Daughters of the American Revolution
°°The New York Metropolitan Opera

OFF TO CANCÚN

So if you're a U.S. Senator
And your state is besieged by cold,
Extreme weather, putting the state
In a catastrophic stranglehold,

With power outages, houses flooding
From bursting pipes, people dying,
Shortages of food and supplies--
The situation terrifying--

How do you help your constituents?
How do you show them that you are in tune
With all their pain and misery?
I know: why not fly to Cancún?

Ask Ted Cruz. That's what he did.
He did it for his kids, he said.
Why suffer here when he could
Play on a Mexican beach instead?

Actually, he cut his trip short,
And flew back home earlier than planned,
Only because he'd gotten caught
And had to leave the sun and sand.

Cruz reveals how little he cares
About the people and dodges attacks.
In a crisis, leadership matters.
And that is something the Senator lacks.

-by Bob B (2-19-21)

FLY ME TO CANCÚN

(This poem can be sung to the melody of the song "Fly Me to the Moon" by Bart Howard.)

Fly me to Cancún
So I can play upon the sand.
Let me get away from Texas.
Cold I can't withstand.
I want to play…in the sun.
I want to play….Who will miss me?

People in my state
Should understand what it's about.
I don't think the government
Should have to bail you out.
Just blame the Dems; they're the cause.
Yeah, blame the Dems, and their laws.

Anyone who wants
To leave can do it if they choose.
I am being attacked
Just because my name's Ted Cruz.
Some people say I'm not fair.
In simple words…
In simple words
I don't care.

-by Bob B (2-19-21)

He died at seventy years of age;
His words had poisoned a nation.
Much of what he ranted about
Was total fabrication.

White identity politics:
He set a blueprint for that.
And when he criticized liberals,
He upped the thermostat.

Race-baiting for him was certainly
Par for the course.
Constant attack was his strategy,
With no hint of remorse.

Being politically INcorrect
To show his point of view
And crossing the line of propriety
Were what he loved to do.

True he had his loyal fans
Who would never condemn
His bigotry and conspiracy theories.
What is wrong with them?

The Capitol insurrectionists,
Naturally, he'd spout,
Were NOT thugs, but patriots!
Figure that one out.

When giving him the Medal of Freedom
Despite his divisive ways,
Trump insulted all the people
Truly deserving of praise.

There are some who’ll jump for joy,
Knowing that Rush is gone.
But sadly all his vitriol
Continues to live on.

-by Bob B (2-18-21)

On Valentine’s Day three years ago
A high school shooting shook the nation.
Seventeen lives were taken in Parkland,
Florida, an indication

That something is wrong--terribly wrong--
In what has been called "the land of the free,"
Where easy access to weapons of war
Led to this brutal killing spree.

Each year after the deadly occurrence,
People meet to remember and pray,
While those directly affected by
The shooting suffer day after day.

Parents, siblings, relatives, and friends--
Before that nightmare--never expected
For loved ones to have to experience
The horror to which they'd been subjected.

And yet there are some people who call
The shootings in Parkland a "false flag."
Tell that to parents of kid after kid
Who left the school in a body bag!

That too many lives are lost in deadly
Shootings here is a bone-chilling fact.
We MUST do more than merely remember
The lives that were lost. We must act!

-by Bob B (2-17-21)

This is the tale of a woman;
Ashli Babbitt's her name.
She lost her life by becoming
Involved in a dangerous game.

She'd spent some time in the Air Force--
Fourteen dutiful years.
Later she worked with her family.
Then something snapped, it appears.

Her social media postings
Showed her recent romance
With crazy conspiracy theories
And an anti-immigrant stance.

Trump's deceitful distortions
Were something to which she held fast.
Her trip to the Capitol Building
Would end up being her last.

So say good-bye to Ashli.
What a sad reason to die!--
All for having supported
A president's giant lie.

When she arrived at the building,
She probably thought, "What the heck?"
And broke in with the mob
With a Trump flag 'round her neck.

A plan to take back the country
Was how the event was billed.
Instead it was a coup,
And Ashli was shot and killed.

Some people call her a martyr;
Some people call her a saint.
But most people here will tell you
That those are two things she ain't.

When we bow down to tyrants
Who break the existing rules,
We demonstrate the danger
Of fools being led by fools.

So say good-bye to Ashli.
What a sad reason to die!--
All for having supported
A president's giant lie…
All for having supported
A president's giant lie.

-by Bob B (2-12-21)

I have a hard time understanding
This whole thing about being white
And what makes being white so special.
I CAN'T comprehend it, try as I might.

"Special" here means using “whiteness”
To hold others down with unfair laws
Or other discriminatory treatment--
Injustice that should give all people pause.

I am of northern European
Background. That is just who I am.
But if my forebears had come from Mars,
Frankly, I wouldn't give a ****.

I must accept myself--that’s true--
To be who I am, but I'll come clean:
I'd be content to be any color--
Black, white, or in between.

Privileges that come with being
White for many are in effect
Exactly what those very same people
Fear losing and choose to protect.

What a shame that is! To me
It absolutely makes no sense
To keep your sense of privilege
And do so at someone else's expense.

If only we could find a way
To make such treatment disappear!
Life could be so much more
Harmonious here on this earthly sphere.

Be who you are, but learn to appreciate
Others for who they happen to be.
Walk in their shoes, live in their skin,
Hear what they hear, see what they see.

White, brown, black…whatever.
Let's unite as people--as one.
NOT other people, but false pride
And prejudice are what we should shun.

-by Bob B (2-10-21)