A lion had his eye on three bulls
That grazed in a farmer's grassy field.
Being close together always
Provided them with a safety shield.

The lion longed to capture them
And eat them up with utmost joy,
But due to their strength in unity,
He desperately needed a ploy.

His plan: to whisper damaging gossip
Among the bulls to make them suspicious
Of one another. And we all know
That gossipers can be malicious.

The lion's strategy worked like a charm--
Just as he had anticipated.
Each of the bulls grew to dislike
The others, and thus they separated.

The field was large enough that each
Could graze alone in a different section.
Of course, since they were on their own,
They no longer had the same protection.

Then the lion moved in on the three,
Eating them one by one, which shows
That quarrels among friends provide
Opportunities for foes.

By the way, if the lion
Devoured all three, he HAD to be full.
Can a lion be that famished?
Or do you think it's a lot of bull?

-by Bob B (8-24-21)

°An Aesop fable, "The Lion and the Bulls," retold here in verse

Walking along a dusty road
In the heat of a summer's day,
Two weary travelers looked for a place
To rest along the way.

They wanted to find shelter from
The fiery rays of the sun.
One said, "Look! I see a place."
The other said, "Well done!"

They sauntered to spot nearby
Where a plane tree stood,
And plopped down on the ground below.
Ah, the shade felt good!

While lying there, one of the travelers
Looked up at the tree,
And said to the other, "This tree is quite
Useless. Don't you agree?

"It drops its leaves and produces no fruit.
Although it stands so tall,
It basically doesn't perform any
Service to mankind at all."

"You ungrateful person!," cried
The plane tree full of rage.
"How dare you be so insolent
With somebody my age!

"Here I stand protecting you
From the scorching rays
Emitted by the sun and yet
I get no word of praise.

"You enjoy my cool shade
And find relief therefrom
And then go on to say that I'm
A good-for-nothing ***."

Ah, the poor tree learned that human
Beings can be rude,
When they upon receiving kindness
Display ingratitude.

-by Bob B (8-24-21)

°An Aesop fable, "The Travelers and the Plane Tree," retold here in verse

A farmer was getting fed up with a fox.
He despised him like the dickens.
The fox prowled around his farm
Every night and ate his chickens.

And so the farmer set a trap
And caught the fox and said, "Aha!
You're going to regret all you've done.
This attempt was your last hurrah."

To get his revenge, the farmer tied
A bunch of flax to the fox's tail,
Set it on fire, and let him go,
Saying, "My revenge can't fail!"

The fox ran straight for the farmer's field
Where the corn was growing tall.
The fields were almost ready for cutting,
For summer was slowly turning to fall.

As you probably figured out,
All of the farmer's fields caught fire.
His crops were destroyed and he lost his harvest--
A situation extremely dire.

The fox? Well, he survived
And went away of his own accord.
The farmer, broken and devastated,
Learned that revenge is a two-edged sword.

-by Bob B (8-23-21)

°An Aesop fable, "The Farmer and the Fox," retold here in verse

Much can be learned from reading the scriptures
From many religions--not just one.
Searching for deeper truths and insights
Into human nature is fun.

Learning the path to knowing the self
And meditating on what you read
Give you an opportunity
To better yourself--whatever your creed.

Striving to be more understanding
Serves as a task that's far from small.
It helps us appreciate other religions
And people with no religion at all.

The symbolism that fills the stories,
The parables and figures of speech,
And words of wisdom help you to gain
Greater awareness--so within reach.

Seeking whatever helps us to be
Loving, compassionate, and kind
Is powerful and transformative;
However, do keep one thing in mind:

If using the scriptures to further hatred,
Intolerance, or bigotry, you
Have to remember that "the devil
Can cite scripture for HIS purpose,"° too.

-by Bob B (8-22-21)

°from William Shakespeare

The world thrives on madness, I guess.
At least that's how it looks of late
As things spin out of control, and that's
Occurring at an alarming rate:

Mask mandates will save human lives,
Yet people resist with crazy notions;
Climate change deniers dismiss
The future threat of rising oceans;

Insurrectionists are seen
As “patriots” in the eyes of some;
Armageddon junkies keep
Messaging “Thy kingdom come”;

Far-right autocracies
And autocrats are on the rise;
People suspicious of reason and truth
Close their minds and lap up lies;

We’re seeing more grasping for power
And greater pursuits to suppress the vote;
Securing equal rights for all
Is becoming more remote;

People shun democracy
And favor personality cults;
Baseless attempts keep cropping up
To undermine election results;

Some people choose to rewrite history
And toss out facts they want to forget;
Xenophobia is rising
And immigrants are seen as a threat;

An ALL-about-ME-world seems to be
The world we’re living in at present;
Being nasty appears to be more
Admirable than being pleasant;

Insecure people yell "Cancel culture!"
When others attempt to expose the truth;
Racists keep using their biases,
Aversion, and hatred to poison our youth.

I once had faith in humanity
And tended to be more idealistic,
But with all this craziness,
It’s harder than hell to be optimistic.

-by Bob B (8-20-21)

Oh, those hypocrites! How they love
To blast others for the things they've done!
They will fool a lot of their supporters,
But do they think that they'll fool everyone?

In June, Trump was bragging at a rally
Of troop withdrawal from Afghanistan
And how that once he set the deal in motion,
That there was nothing that would halt his plan.

He also told his fans that once the U.S.
Plan to pull out all our troops had started,
That the Afghan government would fall
As soon as U.S. troops had all departed.

Special immigrant visas were to be
Issued to our allies over there
So they could flee the country to be safe
For having helped us. Such a deal seems fair.

But actions often counter people's words.
Later, reliable sources would reveal
That Stephen Miller with his racist blather
Did his best to undermine the deal.

He and Trump are now feigning outrage.
But what would people otherwise expect
When someone such as Miller--who's a White
Nationalist--and Trump intersect?

A congressman from Florida, Bill Posey,
NOW says that we should have done much more
To help people leave the Afghan nation,
Which is turning out to be a chore.

But wait! When Congress voted on a bill
To assist in making the visa process flow
And also to increase the number of visas,
Posey voted adamantly no!

And so they want to throw all the blame
At Joe Biden, who was left a mess
When back in January he took office
And had this giant problem to address.

The March of the Hypocrites continues.
Certainly, more will join their ranks.
They'll keep throwing rocks from their glass houses,
Deceiving others while expecting thanks.

-by Bob B (8-21-21)

One afternoon a wolf encountered
A lamb that had wandered away from its herd.
Normally, the wolf would devour
The lamb without saying a word.

However, this time he felt a little
Compunction for the little creature.
A feeling of compunction is not
Typically a wolflike feature.

And so the wolf decided that
On this occasion he would entreat it
To come up with a really good
Reason that he shouldn't eat it.

"A year ago you insulted me,"
Said the wolf, feigning scorn.
"That's impossible," said the little
Lamb, "for I had not yet been born."

"Well," said the wolf, "you eat from my pastures
As though you have been given a pass."
"Sorry," the timid lamb replied,
"But I still haven't tasted grass."

"Then certainly you drink from my stream,"
Continued the wolf. "That's what I think."
“But that's not true," the lamb declared.
"My mother's milk is all that I drink."

"Think of every possible reason;
I don't give a tinker's ****.
But I won't go without my dinner!"
The wolf cried out, and gulped down the lamb.

The moral? Tyrants can’t be trusted.
Don’t be fooled by what they say,
For they will use whatever excuse
They can in order to get their way.

-by Bob B (8-19-21)

°An Aesop fable retold here in verse