After years of limited access
To the voting booth,
We are now--once again--
Facing an ugly truth:

While laws making it easy to vote
Should be watertight,
Many Americans do not feel
That voting is a right.

There were the 13th, 14th, and 15th
Amendments. That is true.
But lawmakers STILL found ways to make
Voting hard to do.

Fifty-six years ago
We Americans saw
The Voting Rights Act being
Signed into law.

One would think that that would be
The end of the battle, but no:
Now lawmakers all around
The country are saying, "Whoa!

"We can't make it easy to vote.
NO WAY nohow!
People might vote for the other person,
And that we can't allow."

We must pass the necessary
Laws for voter protections.
If not, we'll have to say good-bye
To free and fair elections.

-by Bob B (8-7-21)

For nearly twenty years we've fought
A war against the Taliban,
As U.S. and allied forces have
Chased a mirage in Afghanistan.

A war that spanned four presidents
And bad policy decisions
Will soon be coming to a close,
Despite the Afghans' ongoing divisions.

To many Afghan girls and women,
Our presence there has been a relief.
Having endured years of oppression,
They had had their share of grief.

Once we leave, Taliban forces
Most likely will achieve their goal
As city after city falls
And they are able to regain control.

If only we could have said to the people,
"If you want to get out, leave now.
We will find a safe place for you
Elsewhere in the world somehow."

But, alas, that didn't happen.
The idea didn't resonate
With other countries in the world.
And so the Afghans are left to their fate.

I'm afraid to imagine what
Will happen to the women then,
As the extremist leaders cut off
Their path to education again.

And woe to all the translators
Who helped the Western forces there.
If we can't help them flee the country,
Their safety will be up in the air.

Western leaders who tried to contain
The region's volatility,
Have--with our four presidents--
A shared responsibility.

I pity the poor people who must
Be ruled by the Taliban,
But we cannot continue to fight
An endless war in Afghanistan.

-by Bob B (8-6-21)

The vigor is gone from the Stars and Stripes.
What's happening is truly degrading.
The purity of the WHITE is sullied;
The RED and BLUE are slowly fading.

The sullying of the color WHITE,
Which stands for innocence, reveals
That we are slipping--that we are not
Holding true to our ideals.

Are we innocent if we
Ignore the years of hard-fought fights
For justice and equality
As we dismantle voting rights?

If RED means hardiness and courage
And the readiness to sacrifice,
What we're seeing happening now
Makes that meaning imprecise.

Too many people refuse to make
A sacrifice and throw a fit
When asked to do so to help protect
The lives of others, if even a bit.

If BLUE stands for vigilance,
Perseverance, and justice for all,
Then our approach to those areas
Needs a major overhaul.

Perseverance for many means
Believing conspiracy theories that make
Others wonder how truth can be
Such an easy thing to forsake.

Vigilance is also lacking
In many people who fail to see
That huge threats of attacks from our own
People are not hyperbole.

And BLUE for justice for all? Sadly,
That is something we can't declare yet.
Discrimination, selfishness,
And bigotry prove that we're not there yet.

By doing what's right, we must inject
More color into the current Old Glory.
If not, what we'll see will be
A sad end to America's story.

-by Bob B (8-5-21)

It’s hard to know how the country
Survived having to spend
A four-year term with 45.
I thought it would never end.

Four long years of scandals;
Fours years of anguish and grief;
Four long years of fatuous tweets,
With little if any relief.

Four long years of a slogan
To make America great.
And yet the president seemed much more
Preoccupied with hate.

Four long years of hearing
Constant words of praise
For Vladimir Putin and other strongmen
And their autocratic ways.

Four long years of watching
His sycophants kiss his rear
And be afraid to tell him what
He didn’t want to hear.

Four long years of lies.
The number hasn’t been topped.
And though he is out of the White House now,
His lying hasn’t stopped.

Four long years of observing
Extremists in his base
Become so extremely emboldened that
An insurrection took place.

Four long years of feeling
As though we were swimming with sharks,
For he loved tearing people apart
With his nasty remarks.

For four long years we heard
Constant “alternative facts,”
For one of his guiding principles is
Anything that distracts.

Four long years of our lives--
Unrecoverable time.
If voters decide to give him four more,
THAT will be a crime.

-by Bob B (8-3-21)

If I develop dementia someday,
Will the condition be obvious to me?
Will I be able to know that I
Am out of touch with reality?

Will I notice that when I speak,
People exchange puzzled glances?
Will I also be cognizant of
All of my changing circumstances?

Will I notice that people are rolling
Their eyes every now and then
When I continue to ask the same
Questions over and over again?

Will people say, "I told you that
Three times already!" and not understand
That my behavior needs a patient
Response and not a reprimand?

In certain situations will
I know why I am lost or confused?
If somebody tries to shame or hurt me,
Will I know why my heart is bruised?

It will not help to scold me because
I'll forget whatever you say.
In fact, I doubt I'll even remember
That we saw each other today.

If I forget your name or who
You are, I hope you are not sad.
If you remember me when I
Was young and alert, I'll be glad.

As of now, I think my mind
Is pretty clear, and so I won't
Worry yet. But then again,
Maybe YOU know something I don't.

-by Bob B (8-1-21)

In 1777 we hear
Death from smallpox was a fear.
Much to Washington's dismay,
Troops were dying every day.

Sound off: one, two;
Sound off: three, four;
Bring it on down: one, two,
Three, four…(beat)…THREE, FOUR!

Despite the soldiers' expertise,
Most of them died from disease.
Smallpox was a bigger threat
Than dying from a bayonet.

Trying to think outside the box,
The British even used the pox
To cause much greater deprivation
By spreading it through the population.

In Europe there were indications
Of the value of inoculations.
So British troops were free from worry
While smallpox germs unleashed their fury.

Sound off: one, two;
Sound off: three, four;
Bring it on down: one, two
Three, four…(beat)…THREE, FOUR!

Washington said, "This won't do.
If WE don't act now, we are through."
Showing that he had a spine,
He had to lay it on the line:

To stop from being obliterated,
He had all troops inoculated.
That was a major contribution
To the American Revolution.

When lack of knowledge feeds distrust,
Using wisdom is a must.
We know that when sickness thrives,
A shot in the arm can save our lives.

Sound off: one, two;
Sound off: three, four;
Bring it on down: one, two
Three, four…(beat)…THREE, FOUR!

-by Bob B (8-1-21)

During the final days of his term,
Trump did his best
To overturn election results
Like a man possessed.

Like a man possessed he tried
Everything he could
To point out massive voter fraud--
That folks were up to no good.

Folks were up to no good in choosing
Someone else over him,
He thought, for in his mind he'd figured
That Biden's chances were slim.

That Biden's chances were slim: the thought
Propelled him along,
So if Biden won the election,
Something had to be wrong.

Since SOMETHING had to be wrong, he called
The then acting AG,
And told him to say there'd been corruption,
"And leave the rest to me."

"And leave the rest to me." Uh huh.
Of course, we see a connection:
Ten days later we all witnessed
The Capitol insurrection.

-by Bob B (7-31-21)