Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson--
An anti-vaxxer who's super odd--
Thinks that scientists pretend
To know what's correct--more than God--

About vaccines for fighting pandemics.
Could God be so anti-chem?
Has Johnson considered that scientists
Are right 'cause God is working through them?

The senator is quite presumptuous
To think he has a link to God's mind,
When in actuality,
There's something else with which he's aligned.

-by Bob B (1-10-22)

Senator Bob Corker° refers
To what has become the scary result
Of blind devotion to Donald Trump.
He calls the movement a GOP cult.

It's easy to join the cult if you
Don't mind sacrificing free will.
Getting out of the cult is another
Story; that will take some skill.

Members lose their sense of self
When they join the Cult of Trump.
When Trump says "Bow!" they all bow;
When he says "Jump!" boy they jump!

Cult members in Congress have
Handed legislative power
Over to Trump, their supreme
Leader before whom they cower.

Regarding constitutional
Authority: will it last?
Or will it suffer a slow death
And thus become a thing of the past?

All the Leader has to say
Is "They are wrong and I am right,"
And followers agree en masse.
Not to agree would be impolite.

Effusive praise and allegiance must go
To the Leader who is all-about-me.
He says he knows what's good for you.
Woe to you if you disagree.

It used to be that presidents
Worked for the people, but we have found
That currently with the Cult of Trump,
It's the other way around.

How many more will drink the Kool-Aid?
Who else will fall under Trump's spell?
Remember Jonestown? In the end,
Things did not go very well.

-by Bob B (6-14-18)

°Republican Senator from Tennessee

Picnics, parties, marches, laughter,
Potato salad, apple pie…
Friends and families united
And fireworks lit up the nighttime sky.

Some, however, couldn't partake--
Some with horrific stories to tell,
Who, if they could see the fireworks,
Had to watch them from a cell.

Parents separated from children
Here seeking refuge learned
How the rules of immigration
Can be so quickly overturned.

Some are forced to be deported
To Mexico and beyond--
Forced to leave their kids behind,
Denied due process, denied even bond.

The president and his admin team--
These our heroes! These our champs!--
Propose a plan to reunify
Families in internment camps!

Refuge seekers torn apart
Learned not in a pretty way
How people in America
Honor Independence Day.

If Lady Liberty were able,
She’d lay down her tablet and flame
And raise up her hands in order
To hide her tearful face in shame.  

-by Bob B (7-5-18)

It was only six months ago
That we had an insurrection
Because a former president
Refused to believe he lost an election.

Inciting a large part of his base,
He kept repeating his dangerous lie,
Casting doubts on election results
That Congress was going to certify.

Many people want to pretend
That nothing serious happened that day.
They THINK that by ignoring it,
The whole nightmare will go away.

Gaslighting the public by making
People believe what isn't true
Further emboldens extremist groups
That Trump has given oxygen to.

Many members of Congress want
To get to the bottom of what occurred.
And yet the deniers are trying to squelch
The investigations, from what we've heard.

We need to know the facts: the whats
The whys, the whos, the hows and the wheres.
Let's get to the bottom of this
Horrifying state of affairs.

Over 500 people have been
Arrested for the part that they played
That day in storming the Capitol Building
And carrying out their disgusting crusade.

Whatever you do, do not call them
Patriots or tourists! NO!
The word "insurrectionists"
Is really much more apropos.

The more the truth is revealed, the more
We will understand, and then
We can hope that such an attack
Never ever happens again.

-by Bob B (7-6-21)

If you don't like what you hear
And it's hard to reconcile
What your critics say about you
With your particular governing style,
Discredit your critics, call them dishonest,
Berate and revile them. It's no crime.
Say their news is fake. (We know
That some cults do it all the time.)

Just call it fake news.
Tell me, what have you got to lose?
Facts and truth are now passé;
Don't ever let them get in your way.

If your critics hit too close to home--
If they're on to your plans and schemes--
Finding a way to bash the media
Might be easier than it seems.
Get the public on your side;
Play the victim; whine and cry.
Yell, "Unfair treatment!" and you'll
Get their sympathy by and by.

Just call it fake news.
Tell me, what have you got to lose?
Facts and truth are now passé;
Don't ever let them get in your way.

If the scientific reports
Don't accord with what you think,
And the experts' findings and your
Jockeyed figures aren't in sync,
Make the public skeptical
Of scientific ideas, and then
You'll be able to sway the people
With your false "facts" again and again.

Make your own fake news.
Tell me, what have you got to lose?
Facts and truth are now passé;
Don't ever let them get in your way.

- by Bob B (5-30-17)

When critics say what you don't like,
Here's a simple solution:
Call them all untrustworthy,
And you'll get restitution.

Just call it fake news--
No matter what they say.
Help your fans to see that facts
Only get in the way.

Facts are inconvenient, so that's
Why you call them fake.
Acknowledging that you are wrong
Would be a big mistake.

If you play your cards right, then
The people on your side
Will not know or will not even
Care that you have lied.

You can easily spread your lies
To help you reach your goals
With the help of some of Russia's
Finest Internet trolls.

Colluding with other countries can
Also boost your chances
Of building a base of gullible fans
Despite the circumstances.

As long as fans do not see
That they are being played,
And you can turn them against the press,
You have got it made.

Just call it fake news--
No matter what they say.
Help your fans to see that facts
Only get in the way.

-by Bob B (10-21-17)

Despite multiple accusations
Of ****** impropriety,
Trump still demonstrates
A false display of piety.
He knows his loyal fans out there
Would never, ever truly deceive him.
He denies whatever he wants
And they will all believe him.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh
Aspires for both fame and glory.
Somehow he got people to
Give credence to his manicured story.
Following Trump's slick advice,
He thought, "Hey, why not try it?
Whatever they accuse me of,
I will out-and-out deny it."

Putin said he hadn't meddled
In our twenty sixteen elections.
Although we know that Internet trolls
Were following his cunning directions.
Putin merely had to say,
"Mr. Trump, I did not do it."
That is all that Trump needed
To say to the world, "You see: I knew it."

Trump asked the Saudi king
If he had had a journalist killed
In Istanbul. That is where
Jamal Khashoggi's blood had been spilled.
The king and prince denied it. Trump,
Satisfied, said, "You see:
The king said they didn't do it.
His denial's enough for me."

Just deny whatever you've done.
That's the message we are getting.
Having to pay consequences
Can stifle your plans and be upsetting.
Just deny it, and you will have
All of your fans believing your tale.
Turn them all against the victim
To save your *** and stay out of jail.

-by Bob B (10-16-18)

"You can have my wife.
I’ll give up my truck.
I admit, without them
Life would really ****.
Take my riding mower
And my rod and reel;
And while you are at it,
Take my new fifth wheel.
That will really hurt;
Life won't be so fun.
But you can take most anything;
Just don’t take my gun!
 
"Come and get my tools—
My hammer and my drill.
Don’t forget to also
Take my Solaire grill.
I’ll part with my saws—
Dovetail, chain, and rip.
Take the whole tool shed;
I ain’t gonna quip.
You can have my kids—
Take ‘em one by one.
I’ll get by without ‘em all;
Just don’t take my gun!
 
"Take my fishing tackle
And my motor boat.
If you want I’ll even
Throw in my last oat.
Go on, take my Stetson
And my Tony Lamas
And that mantle clock there
(Though it was my mama’s).
Hell, take all my clothes—
Don’t bother leaving none.
I don’t need ‘em anyway;
Just don’t take my gun!
 
"You can have my sofa
And my favorite chair.
Take my widescreen TV;
I don’t really care.
Go on, take my beer,
My freezer full of grouse,
My washer and my dryer...
Take the whole **** house.
I’ll give you all my tales—
Every yarn I’ve spun.
You can have my heart and soul;
Just don’t take my gun!"

- by Bob B

If Trump was uncontrollable,
Which made you unconsolable,
Just watch him now.
If it's hard to understand
How lying can get out of hand,
Just watch him now.
If his supporters in Congress don't muster
The courage to tell him that he's nothing but bluster,
And instead they bow to him,
Grovel and kowtow to him,
THEN YOU JUST WATCH HIM NOW.

If his nominations
Never met your expectations,
Just watch him now.
If you thought his judges
Would help support his grudges,
Just watch him now.
If you found his polices unfair and perverse,
Thought the situation here could never get worse,
And simply found the man unfit
And basically a hypocrite,
THEN YOU JUST WATCH HIM NOW.

He loves to stir up
A hullabaloo.
Just imagine how much
More damage he'll do.

If you thought his major pitch
Went to help the filthy rich,
Just watch him now.
If you thought he wouldn't dare
To tamper with our Medicare,
Just watch him now.
If he thought himself above the law, then
He is going to break the law again and again.
So, Senators, you who cower,
As Trump takes away your power,
YOU JUST WATCH HIM NOW.

-by Bob B (2-5-20)

The hush money trial continues in court
While Trump's in the midst of electioneering.
Based on what witnesses there are saying,
This is a tidbit of what we've been hearing:

Allen Weisselberg° went to McConney°°
And said to send money to Michael Cohen,
Who had borrowed money to pay
Stormy Daniels. The money's now flowin'.

Stormy Daniels, of course, is the **** star
With whom Trump had an intimate fling.
The fling itself is not illegal;
However, the hush money is, ka-ching!

Trump signed the checks that went to his "Fixer,"
For Cohen expected to be reimbursed.
Deep in the pool of complicity,
Trump and Cohen both were immersed.

Nine of the checks that Trump had signed
Came from his personal bank account.
The money that Cohen received in return
From Trump was even a larger amount.

Criminal conspiracy!
Hush money paid before an election
To wrongly influence election results!
In THIS case it has a salacious connection.

To mix a couple figures of speech,
There is a saying in Latin that goes
"***** erectus non habet conscientiam."°°°
Yep, that hits it right on the nose!

For his involvement, Cohen was found
Guilty and served his sentence. Let's see
If Trump will find a way to finagle
A not-guilty verdict and get off scot-free.

-by Bob B (5-8-24)

°Trump's former financial chief
°°Jeffrey McConney, former Trump Organization employee
°°°"An ***** ***** has no conscience."

(This poem can be sung to the melody of George M. Cohen's song "Harrigan.")

Who is the one who will lead us to victory?
Kamala--that's she!
Who is consistent and not contradictory?
Kamala--that's she!
For she has the courage and fight in her
To insure that she'll be the one we prefer.
Who is the star who'll make Trump give his au revoir?
Kamala--that's she!
K - A - M - A - L - A: That's how you spell Kamala.
She's PROUD of what her record has to show us.
WE know that SHE will truly try to know us.
K - A - M - A - L - A: She is bound to be
One with grit who should sit at the desk in the Oval Office.
Kamala--that's she!

-by Bob B (8-22-24)

In case you don't know or remember the old song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmPBl-XbM-8&list=RDwmPBl-XbM-8&start_radio=1

Kanye West visited Trump
At the White House, and man, what a scene!
His words were bouncing off all the walls,
Just like a ball in a pinball machine.

His disjointed rantings and ravings
Made little if any sense.
He ****** up to the president
More than even Michael Pence.

Rambling about the 13th Amendment,
The Unabomber, and then trap doors,
He ended the strange concoction of thoughts
With a weird reference to thirteen floors.

To him, Trump is a father figure.
To prove how much he is fan,
Whenever he wears his MAGA cap,
It makes him feel like Superman.

Illegal guns, tasting fine wines,
And liberals controlling blacks
Through racism? You wanted to say,
Calm down, Kanye. Try to relax.

One thing is certain: We can see
From trying to follow his monologue threads,
That Kanye needs some serious help.
Kanye, please get back on your meds!

-by Bob B (10-14-18)

You're at a party when--déjà vu--
The music changes from out of the blue.
You might miss a step, but whatever you do
Keep dancing.

Meteorologists predict a storm.
But inside all is comfy and warm.
If you want to stay true to form,
Keep dancing.

All through the evening your friends come and go.
That is the nature of parties, you know.
Your feet might grow tired; even so,
Keep dancing.

Some say life's a party.
At least we can pretend.
We know that at some point
Parties have to end.

You look at the clock; the hour is late.
But your time of departure can wait.
Why leave the party when you're feeling great?
Keep dancing.

-by Bob B (10-17-21)

Hang in there, investigative
Reporters! Your work is cut out for you.
Help to be our eyes and ears,
And don't give up, whatever you do!

You have to work all the harder
When our democracy erodes.
When leaders silence your voices, imagine
The horrors that such a stifling forebodes.

Watch out for unscrupulous groups
Who try to discredit your needed work--
Who try to set you up for failure
And then sit by and smugly smirk.

Keep our corporations and our
Elected officials on their toes.
You say that no one's above the law.
There! You hit it on the nose!

Seek out corruption, abuse, and fraud.
Put our leaders' words to the test.
If there's suspicion, follow the money.
The one who laughs last, laughs best.

Authoritarian rulers dislike
A questioning, prying press. No wonder
They try to break you and call you fake,
Hoping you will knuckle under.

When people are manipulated
To criticize, attack, and doubt you,
Just remember, brave reporters:
Democracy CAN'T survive without you.

-by Bob B (12-23-17)

The winds of war keep blowing.
How does one explain
Putin's deadly aggression?
Keep your thoughts on Ukraine.

Hospitals being bombed…
Innocent people slain…
Citizens fleeing the country…
Keep your thoughts on Ukraine.

Cities being surrounded…
People feeling the strain
Of limited supplies…
Keep your thoughts on Ukraine.

All because of a madman
Who wallows in his disdain
For the rights of the people…
Keep your thoughts on Ukraine.

The world watches in horror.
One's sadness is hard to contain.
As Russian troops push onward,
Keep your thoughts on Ukraine.

-by Bob B (3-1-22)

Kellyanne CONjob is at it again,
Making up more alternative facts.
Then she is so upset and dismayed
When she learns how the public reacts.

Attempting to defend Donald Trump's
BAN on citizens from seven nations
That happen to have a Muslim majority--
The ban caused national demonstrations--

CONjob spoke of the Bowling Green Massacre,
Which never happened. Point number two:
She said that President Obama had banned
Iraqi refugees. Also not true.

In twenty eleven more extensive
Vetting procedures were implemented,
The facts of which fade away
When NEW "facts" are invented.

Really, you have to hand it to her.
She is adept at duping Trump's base.
Alternative facts, while fooling the public,
Can also make you fall on your face.

- by Bob B (2-3-17)

A long time ago a very young mother
Named Kisa Gotami gave birth to a son—
A child who was the light of her life.
The mother’s love was second to none.
 
Not long after her son was born,
The poor child grew sick and died.
“Who can bring my son back to life?
Have pity!” Kisa Gotami cried.
 
The villagers knew that there was nothing
They could do to help and suggested
That she seek out the help of the Buddha.
“He can do wonders,” they attested.
 
She found the Buddha and beseeched his help.
“My only son has died,” she wailed.
“Can you bring him back to life.
Everything I have tried has failed.”
 
The Buddha calmly said, “I will help you.”
The poor woman waited with bated breath.
“But first you must find for me
A family that’s never been touched by death.
 
“When you finally encounter that home,
Tell the family there’s something you need—
Just one thing to take to the Buddha—
And that’s a single mustard seed.”
 
With great excitement the mother ran
From house to house—to every abode.
But death had visited every family.
On her face, great disappointment showed.
 
After a long, unsuccessful search,
The young mother came to realize
That everything born had to die;
Everything had to have its demise.
 
She understood the law of impermanence
And that her suffering was not unique.
She now saw life from a new perspective;
Her eyes were open, so to speak.
 
Kisa Gotami returned to the Buddha
And started to follow his teachings--the Way,
Or Path to Enlightenment,
Which still guides many seekers today.

- by Bob B

We hobble along with outrage fatigue
And watch as nothing ever exhausts
Our Machiavellian leaders' use
Of the media to win at all costs.

False story lines prevail.
To hell with accuracy and precision.
Sowing distrust of higher learning
Solidifies their paranoid vision.

Watch how their destructive disdain
For expertise gains vitality
As people's opinions and feelings stomp
On any form of objective reality.

Watch as they rewrite history;
Notice how data can be erased
As they become suspicious of much
Information that's science-based.

Language becomes weaponized:
Hyperbole, salacious lies,
And slippery superlatives
Celebrate truth's demise.

Party loyalty: that is key.
All that matters is the sale.
Hijacking democracy
Becomes the goal: the holy grail.

Mobilized by grievance, they
Inflame fear and anger. They hope
That we will find scapegoats to blame
When we are at the end of our rope.

A general illiteracy
On issues that affect our lives
Keeps us all in doubt while they
Create fake news and sharpen their knives.

Ah, how they want you to fear
Government, which is ironic,
For they themselves are government.
Look at their smiles, cold and sardonic.

Give equal weight to both
Sides of arguments, they say.
That's how they can justify
Bigotry and lead us astray.

While extremist views go mainstream,
Blurred lines make life hazy.
Keep watering narcissism,
And you will see it grow like crazy.

Their careful manipulation of language
Proves how much their rhetoric's swollen.
The people find it hard to accept
That basic freedoms are being stolen.

As we lament the death of truth
And wonder how it came to pass,
Before we cast blame we must
Peer into the looking glass.

-by Bob B (9-28-18)

°Inspired by "The Death of Truth" by Michiko Kakutani

-Confusion-
Whether or not you seek glory,
Whenever you're writing a story,
You'll know on the double
That you're in big trouble
If you confuse "hoary"° with "whorey."

°definition: old and trite

-Grammar-
It's really quite shocking to me
When speakers of English can't see
What they convey
Whenever they
Use "him" when they ought to use "he."

-Subjunctive-
They say the subjunctive° is dying.
If I said, "Who cares?" I'd be lying.
If I were you,
I'd do what I do:
Perfect it! At least I'd keep trying.

°The subjunctive mood expresses wishes, suggestions, demands, or desires.

-Past Participle-
To another thing I must ask "Why?"
To the past participle, say "Bye!"
Why don't folks give a ****
When they say "We have swam,"
"He has ran," "I have drank"? My, oh, my!

-Past Perfect-
The past perfect tense I can tell
Can cause people problems as well.
Some folks abuse it;
Some just don't use it.
Use "had" with the past par…. Ah, hell!

-by Bob B (5-28-24)

Easterners had to stay up late
To watch the Democratic debate
In Vegas, but we out here in the West
Tuned in early to watch the slugfest.

'Twas bound to happen, but oh, my God:
What a circular firing squad!
Right from the start, the hell raising
Debaters entered with all guns blazing.

Warren attacked Bloomberg with force
For purchasing the election, of course.
Then she attacked the others as well,
Going for the throat and giving them hell.

Amy and Pete, the Midwestern neighbors
Went toe to toe and brandished their sabers.
Biden was stronger this time, but again
He sounded like one of the twelve angry men.

Bernie, well, Bernie is always the same.
He tosses his daggers and shrugs off the blame.
He holds on tight to the aspiration
Of later securing the nomination.

Though Bloomberg indeed has bundles of money,
His boring demeanor is far from sunny.
As a debater, he didn't seem ready
And came off sounding weak and unsteady.

The moderators' questions were not
So wonderful and needed more thought.
The six debaters were fine on the whole,
Although at times they were out of control.

To separate the wheat from the chaff
Is crucial, and sometimes it's good to laugh.
Though some have expressed the apprehension
That we'll end up with a brokered convention,

Whatever happens, we will survive,
And may our final candidate thrive!
What's most important is that we can dump
The current president--Donald J. Trump.

-by Bob B (2-20-20)

Obviously, Donald Trump
Couldn't care less about whom he hurts.
The heartless man apparently thinks
We're all getting our just deserts.

All of our lives are now in danger
As he installs his admin team--
Most of whom are incompetent
But blindly support the Trump regime.

He's fired people across the country
For having done their job. What's more,
He has become even more deranged
And more unjust than ever before.

His new tariffs on imports show
How he wants to maximize
His power by hurting other countries
And us as well as prices rise.

And then, of course, he bullies other
Nations if they do not comply
With HIS demands. We MUST speak up.
This situation is do or die.

Trump is out to show the world
That he's a strongman--lawless and cruel.
Hurt other people before they hurt you.
That's the Trumpian golden rule.

-by Bob B (2-2-25)

(This poem can be sung to the tune of the Shangri-La's 1964 pop hit "Leader of the Pack.")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8UKf65NOzM

Are they really voting for him?
Well, yes, they are. Just ask them.
Voters, are those MAGA hats that you're wearing?
Hm-hmmm…
Gee, it must be strange voting for him.
Did you think he'd make the country great again?
Uh-huh.
Tell us why you support him.

We watch him on the TV screen.
It seems his simple words ring true--
That's what we think. (Yes, you do.)
That's why we follow (the LEADER OF THE CULT).

He says that he is the chosen one (one, one).
And knows how the country ought to be run.
(Whaddya mean when he says he knows how the country should be run?)
He says he can't do wrong--
That with him we'll be strong.
That's why we follow (the LEADER OF THE CULT).

He says the president's like a king.
Silencing his critics is his thing.
(Whaddya trying to say when you say he's like a king?)
He will defy Congress, he said.
And that's how we will get ahead.
That's why we follow (the LEADER OF THE CULT).

He doesn't care if Russia's involved
In our elections--that's all right.
In his opinion, Russia is absolved.
If he acts out of spite,
As long as he wins, that'll be delight!

Right now! Right now! Right now! Right now!

He says that his intentions are real.
We don't care what things he tries to conceal.
We'll let him get his way;
We're going to do whatever he'll say.
We will always follow (the LEADER OF THE CULT).

-by Bob B (2-2-20)

Bryan Thompson, from Mississippi,
Didn't want to be vaccinated
Until he knew much more about
The COVID vaccine. Thus, he waited.

Caution is understandable,
And many people do not envision
Coming down with COVID. But Bryan
Soon regretted his decision.

He ended up in the hospital
With COVID, and soon he realized
That even though he had been careful,
He probably shouldn't have been surprised.

After some time, he was released.
Back at home he began to complain
About discomfort in one of his legs--
In fact, excruciating pain.

Back to the hospital he went.
There the doctors determined that he
Would have to lose his leg. It was
Amputated below the knee.

Bryan is lucky he's still alive.
He now feels that it was wrong
To hold off getting his vaccination.
He should have known better all along.

Please do not feel Schadenfreude
Or say, "Bryan, it serves you right."
No, be happy he's still alive
To help other people see the light.

-by Bob B (7-30-21)

Let a poem speak its thoughts;
Maybe it will stir you,
And maybe turn you upside down.
Perhaps it will spur you

On to see a new perspective--
To concur or disagree.
Let it help you to confirm
Or question what you see.

Let it take you to distant places
Or calmly walk you home.
Let it fall like a heavy weight
Or dissipate like foam.

Let it tickle, let it jolt,
Even though it may
Shake up your comfort zone.
Don't worry; that's okay.

For all the right and honest reasons,
Praise or criticize it;
Likewise, for right and honest reasons,
Like it or despise it.

A poem quietly lies in abeyance
Until it's being read.
The reader brings a poem to life--
Raises it from the dead.

- by Bob B

If your life is full of stress,
And you’re being tossed to and fro,
Two little words might help you;
Those two words are LET GO.
 
If the world is going crazy,
And wherever you look there is woe,
You’d like to fix the world’s problems;
At some point you have to LET GO.
 
Sometimes daily pressures
Can make you a mean so-and-so.
Release the steam from your cooker
With a good attempt to LET GO.
 
If you’re micromanager
And control is your M.O.,
You might increase your longevity
If you can learn to LET GO.
 
If words come back to bite you
And you end up eating crow,
Well, worse things could happen;
Just say to yourself, “LET GO!”
 
By always approaching life
With expectations in tow,
You’re bound to be disappointed;
Try to stay calm and LET GO.
 
If you’re in high gear
And haven’t learned to go slow,
Avoid wear and tear on your engine;
To do so you’ve got to LET GO.
 
If you’re still having some trouble
Getting your ducks in a row,
Delayed gratification
Will happen if you can LET GO.
 
You wake up and go to the kitchen,
And what? there’s no morning joe!
Stay calm and take a few breaths;
You’ll manage if you can LET GO.
 
Though easier said than done—
Ask sages, for they ought to know—
Your life changes forever
Once you learn how to LET GO.
 
If you’re up the creek with no paddle
And you have to go with the flow,
Relax and enjoy the adventure,
Repeating the mantra: LET GO!

- by Bob B

Dear Donald Trump, my friend,
I bet your patience is wearing thin.
Because of your democracy,
Investigations are closing in.

Since I can use my magic
To make people disappear,
Such investigative threats
Are never going to happen here.

From watching your revolving-door
Administration, I can see
That you, like me, expect one thing
Above all others: loyalty.

What is all this talk about
Ties with Russian oligarchs?
Don't your people realize that
Our bites are much, much worse than our barks?

Although I appreciate
What you did during your campaign--
The helpful steps you took to soften
Your stance on giving aid to Ukraine--

We still have a ways to go.
But one thing that I have to say
Is you have been good about
Respecting our little NDA.°

Lifting sanctions would be a big help.
I thought that maybe a good incentive
Would be our many ICBMs,
For you know we're very inventive.

But, no, let's not talk about threats.
If your cards are rightly played,
You will be as strong as I.
In other words, you'll have it made.

Ah, silence is golden, no?
One thing is sure as shootin':
I'd hate to have to spill the beans
'Bout you know what. Your friend, Putin.

-by Bob B (4-2-18)

°non-disclosure agreement

"Dear Donald Trump, my friend,
I bet your patience is wearing thin.
Because of your democracy,
Investigations are closing in.

"Since I can use my magic
To make people disappear,
Such investigative threats
Are never going to happen here.

"From watching your revolving-door
Administration, I can see
That you, like me, expect one thing
Above all others: loyalty.

"What is all this talk about
Ties with Russian oligarchs?
Don't your people realize that
Our bites are much, much worse than our barks?

"Although I appreciate
What you did during your campaign--
The helpful steps you took to soften
Your stance on giving aid to Ukraine--

"We still have a ways to go.
But one thing that I have to say
Is you have been good about
Respecting our little NDA.°

Lifting sanctions would be a big help.
I thought that maybe a good incentive
Would be our many ICBMs,
For you know we're very inventive.

But, no, let's not talk about threats.
If your cards are rightly played,
You will be as strong as I.
In other words, you'll have it made.

Ah, silence is golden, no?
One thing is sure as shootin':
I'd hate to have to spill the beans
'Bout you know what. Your friend, Putin.

-by Bob B (4-2-18)

°non-disclosure agreement

(For some reason, I found this poem in my DRAFTS. I guess I hadn't "published" it for public eyes, and it sat, along with 25 or so of my other poems, in my DRAFTS folder until today. Sorry about the delay.)

The Skotzki girls, Helga and Inge,
Fifteen and thirteen years old,
Boarded the SS St. Louis in Hamburg.
Let their story forever be told.

The girls' parents, Gunther and Charlotte,
Experienced with growing unease
The dangers of living in **** Germany.
The solution: to flee as refugees.

Nine hundred Jewish passengers
Aboard the luxury liner departed
In May of 1939.
For them a new life had started.

Or so they hoped. Two weeks later,
When they reached Cuba--the end of their trip--
Only twenty-eight of the people
Were permitted to leave the ship.

Discrimination and politics
Had suddenly played a deadly hand,
Affecting the fate of those who sought
Asylum in a foreign land.

Toward Florida the ship sailed.
The refugees begged for immigrant status.
The desperate cries refused to budge
The cold, political apparatus.

"We've already fulfilled our quotas."
"Careful! They might be **** spies."
Excuses emerged and rumors spread
With paranoid suppositions and lies.

The captain steered the ship back to Europe.
The refugees caught in a game of chance
Were spread among four countries:
The Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, and France.

Of the nine hundred passengers,
Two hundred fifty-four of them lost
Their lives while they were stuck in Europe
During the ghastly Holocaust.

Helga and Inge, along with their parents,
Probably struggled to comprehend
How politics could come before people.
In Auschwitz their lives came to an end.

We know we can't turn back the clock,
But we must do whatever it takes
To put people first and do what is right--
Or else we're doomed to repeat our mistakes.

- by Bob B (4-25-17)

JD Vance, what a performance!°
Yes, you are a slick debater.
However, much of what you said
Shows that you're a fabricator.

Blaming all the problems that
America faces on Harris is wrong.
You're VERY good at one thing, though:
Stringing a lot of people along.

You criticize Harris for
Not effecting policy.
Did you forget that she is NOT
The president, but his VP?

When asked to give a solution for curbing
Gun violence, this is yours:
Making windows with thicker glass
And putting stronger locks on doors!

You STILL will not admit that Biden
Won the 2020 election!°°
You and the truth apparently
Suffer from a disconnection.

And you won't disavow the hoax
Of Springfield migrants eating pets.
Your lack of compassion for immigrants
Is about as bad as it gets.

You lied about your previous stance
On a nationwide abortion ban.
If people want a mini-Trump,
Well, Mr. Vance, you’re their man.

Hopefully, people saw through
Your slick and smarmy presentation.
I also hope that when they vote,
They know who'll truly help this nation.

-by Bob B (10-3-24)

°Referring to the Tim Walz/JD Vance vice presidential candidate debate
°°After the debate Vance made the ludicrous statement that Trump had indeed won the 2020 election!

Two monks were traveling
To a town some miles away—
A journey that would take them
A good part of the day.
 
They stepped mindfully;
Their voices wasted no words.
The only sound they heard
Was the singing of the birds.
 
Suddenly crossing their path
Rushed a rippling stream—
Its current on the rough side
(Or so it did seem).
 
Before the flowing current,
A woman stood—waiting—
Assessing the situation—
In her mind debating
 
Whether to turn around
Or to cross the gurgling water.
Her foot slipped on the moss
And she began to totter.
 
The older monk caught her,
And so she wouldn’t get wet,
He carried her across the stream
With no hint of regret.
 
On dry land again,
He carefully set her down.
She thanked him and continued
To the local town.
 
As the monks continued
On their resolute path,
The younger monk complained—
His words were tinged with wrath:
 
“How could you pick her up?
That’s against the rules.
You make us look suspicious—
Like lascivious fools.”
 
On and on he grumbled,
Talking without cease,
Depriving them of calm,
And giving them no peace.
 
The older monk grew tired
Of the ranting and the raving.
Concerned about the way
His companion was behaving,
 
He stopped and said, “My friend,
I carried her—I know—
Across the stream and put her
Down LONG ago.
 
“You don’t like the manner
In which I applied goodwill;
But you, dear friend, are the one
Who carries the woman still.”
 
They walked on in silence;
Neither felt distraught—
The older monk smiling,
The younger deep in thought.

- by Bob B

Vandalizing people’s Teslas
Is wrong, terribly wrong,
Even though Musk sticks his nose
Where it doesn’t belong.

Instead, protest at dealerships
With messages loud and clear:
We are sick of Musk's involvement,
And we will persevere.

Trump has given him carte blanche
To ravage our country. We need
To stop these onslaughts on agencies
Because of far-right greed.

DOGE--Department of Greed and Evil--
Has gained access to
Personal records. Think of all
The damage it could do!

The little DOGE whippersnappers
Are also going after
Non-federal agencies!
This is no cause for laughter!

All the damage that they are doing
Is going to be hard to fix.
While people suffer, the president
And Musk are getting their kicks.

Find a protest nearest you.
Let your voice be heard.
Fight to save democracy,
And meanwhile spread the word.

-by Bob B (4-1-25)

Lie, deny, delay. These are
Three methods that Trump employs
To con his way through life. And, yes,
He's good at making lots of noise.

What comes easy for him, of course,
Without a doubt is all the lying.
He is also very adept
At method number two: denying.

Delaying is a bit of a challenge.
To accomplish that, his team resorts
To throwing spaghetti at the wall
To see what sticks in cases in courts.

How ironic: he claims to be
The candidate of law and order
But makes up lies about what is
Occurring on our southern border.

Law and order? What a joke!
The first thing that he'll do, says he,
If he's back in the White House to serve
One more term in office will be

To pardon the thugs who've been convicted
Of crimes involving their connection
With the January 6
Shocking Capitol insurrection.

What a cruel, insensitive,
Vicious, heartless slap in the face
To law enforcement officers
Who were attacked while guarding the place!

If Trump agrees that democracy
And Law and Order are major concerns,
Why then are the ones who protect
Democracy the ones he spurns?

Will Donald Trump once again
Lie and deny his way to the top?
Or will his cold, uncaring campaign
Turn out to be a giant flop?

-by Bob B (4-8-24)

It's sad when people lie about you
And say that you said what you hadn’t said.
One would think that they should have
Better things to do instead.

What is it that makes them so?
Do they really believe their lies?
Or is the truth beyond their reach--
A thing they don't even recognize?

Do they feel so desolate?
Are they so insecure within?
Are their lives so out of sorts--
An imbalance of yang and yin?

It doesn't make me angry. Not really,
When they are so mendacious…disjointed.
If I feel hurt at all,
It's mainly because I'm disappointed--

Disappointed that they don't see
How their actions reflect on them
And NOT on the people whom they choose
To lie about, malign, or condemn.

And so I wonder if they'll ever
See the error of their ways
And maybe be able to turn their unkind
Comments from calumny to praise.

-by Bob B (3-26-24)

If other people said all the things
That Trump says, they would find
Themselves being carted away, for we
Would think that they had lost their mind.

But no, for some unhealthy reason,
Trump will say whatever he wants--
Whatever comes to his evil mind:
Jeers, untruths, attacks, and taunts.

He makes huge issues out of nothing--
Thinking he is Cool Don--
Instead of solving important matters
That we need to focus on.

He's still obsessed with trans issues,
Although trans people represent
A tiny percentage of folks in this country.
But Trump prates on and won't relent.

How can his fans sit there and listen
To all the lies of the Great Pretender?
He tells them their kids can go to school
And come home later a different gender!

When I hear him spout such nonsense,
I cannot help but utter an oath.
Anyone who believes such crap
Has to be crazy or stupid, or both!

-by Bob B (1-24-25)

The president says that we should be happy?
He brought us to the brink of war
And then he lied about the reasons.
Of course, we have seen that before.

Lies, lies, again and again…
He thinks he can legitimize
His actions by bombarding us
With lies, lies, and even more lies.

Fifteen thousand four hundred
False claims from the lying pro.
But you have to keep in mind
That that was more than a month ago!

Now he's lying about Iran.
He says he has a better feel
For how to apply maximum pressure--
Better than the nuclear deal.

Abandoning the agreement that
Was working clearly made no sense.
Trump prefers to provoke Iran.
Diplomacy is a better defense.

Diplomacy means "weakness" to Trump.
He would rather pound his chest
And act as though he knows what he's doing.
Tell me: is the man possessed?

Lies, lies, again and again…
How can anyone not despise
A leader who defames our country
With lies, lies, and even more lies.

-by Bob B (1-9-20)

A lot of English speakers today
Have difficulty with "lie" and "lay."
When we are talking about reclining,
"Lie" is the word that we're defining.
Your English teacher might give you a frown
If you say, "I am going to lay down."
"I'm going to LIE down" is what it should be.
"Lay" requires an object, you see.
Confused, people often ask why
"Lay" has to be the past tense of "lie."
That is partly what makes us confused
And also explains why the words are misused.
"All day last Monday I LAY in my bed."
But people will slip and say "laid" instead.
Remember, the past tense of "lay" is "laid":
"I LAID my coat on the bench in the shade."
Silly example I know; I'm just trying
To make a point. And NO, I'm not lying.
Now when you are using "lying" and "laying,"
The same rules apply. Do you hear what I'm saying?
"She's LYING on top of the quilt right now."
"We're LAYING our coats on the bed." Somehow,
With just a little effort we'll get it,
And it won't confuse you if you don't let it.

-by Bob B (10-1-21)

Light the candles on the menorah,
On the menorah, one by one.
Let the shamash be your attendant.
Gather together when day is done.

May the sounds of Hanukkah blessings
Fill your home with a cheerful mood.
Let your heart be brimming with wonder,
Joy and laughter and gratitude.

Celebrate the season with hope--
The yearly festival of lights.
Think about the oil that burned
For eight miraculous days and nights.

Spin the dreidel. How will it fall--
Nisht or gantz or halb or shtel?
Win or lose some Hanukkah gelt…
If you break even, you're doing well.

We reflect on where we have come from;
Struggles have never seemed to cease.
May people everywhere learn from the past.
For the sake of the children let there be peace.

Light the candles on the menorah,
On the menorah, one by one.
May the gentle glow of the candles
Soften the night in the setting sun.

-by Bob B (12-12-18)

°I know: the festival of Hanukkah has passed this year.
But it will return on 22 Dec. 2019.

You did it again, Senatorial
Democrats. How naïve!
You keep falling for the tricks
McConnell has up his sleeve.

Long ago a funding bill
Could easily have been sent--
One with bipartisan support--
To the president.

Republican leaders chose, however,
To play a game, and that's
How they let a shutdown occur
And then blame Democrats.

True, the president's wishy-washy
Feelings aren't always clear.
It doesn't help when bigoted voices
Are whispering in his ear--

Voices of Kelly, Steve Miller,
Iowan Steve King,
And Tom Cotton from Arkansas,
All with a racist sting.

And so for now the fate of the Dreamers
Is a question mark.
You think McConnell won't continue
To leave them in the dark?

McConnell waits--like Lucy with her football--
For you to run up and kick it.
Will you fall for the trick again,
Or tell him where to stick it?

-by Bob B (1-23-18)

(Try singing this poem to the tune of Bob Dylan's song "Blowin' in the Wind.")

How many lies can a president tell
Until people say, “That’s enough”?
How often can one man play a hard game
Until someone else calls his bluff?
How long till people stand up to hate
And give it a fitting rebuff?
The thing you must do is listen to your heart;
You must try to listen to your heart.

How many clouds must darken the sky
Before we can feel the cold rain?
How long must people suffer in life
Until we can feel their pain?
How can a leader within a short time
Destroy what is hard to regain?
The thing you must do is listen to your heart;
You must try to listen to your heart.

How many laws can a president break
Until Congress tells him, "You're fired!"?
How can a leader have so many duds
Among the people he's hired?
What does it take for the voters to say,
"We've had it; your time has expired"?
The thing you must do is listen to your heart;
You must try to listen to your heart.

-by Bob B (1-15-20)

Little Liam, you sit on my lap
And look at the world with questioning eyes.
What's going on in your little brain?
We adults can only surmise.

Too young to be afraid,
You are now so utterly obsessed
With putting everything into
Your mouth. Is that your litmus test?

At six months old, you probably
Expect to only be pampered and fed.
I doubt you have an inkling about
What adventures lie ahead.

I fear that we are leaving you
A world that's terribly disjointed.
We would love to make you proud
But fear you might be disappointed.

How could anyone hold you and not
Want to protect you to the hilt?
Your curious, trusting eyes, however,
Fill my aching heart with guilt.

All your uncle has to do
Is look into your innocent face
To know that he must fight much harder
To make this world a better place.

-by Bob B (12-22-19)

Having survived a heart attack,
I find that I am now inclined
To always have a piercing question
That surfaces from the depths of my mind:

Could it--will it--happen again?
The question is a normal one
After such an experience,
Which definitely was NOT very fun.

When you had no warning signs,
It makes you even more uncertain.
If life's a stage, will Death decide
To stop the play and close the curtain?

Uncertainty is a part of life.
That's just the way it is, and so,
Instead of trying to fight it, I guess,
It's better to merely go with the flow.

In the meantime, what should I do?
Eat healthy foods, exercise,
Take my meds, avoid too much salt
And sugar and stress, and try to be wise.

Appreciating all that life
Has to offer before life ends,
I hope to share this appreciation
With family and all my friends.

Time waits for no one, they say.
It passes by us lickety-split.
Living is a special gift,
So make the optimal use of it.

-by Bob B (6-26-23)

Empty shelves. Lack of supplies.
Fighting a virus that's unforgiving.
School closures. Loss of jobs.
A new reality in which we're living.

Hospitals filling. Medical staff
In danger from lack of protective gear.
Stores and industries shutting down.
For how long remains unclear.

Closed borders. Cancelled flights.
Social distancing's a must.
Living in a dystopian novel,
We hear the command: Adjust! Adjust!

Where is our federal leadership?
Scrambling for sure, but this is worth noting:
The president's spreading misinformation
And keeps applying a sugar coating.

We need help! our governors say;
We're limited, but doing what we can.
The president says, "We are not
A supply shop." Compassionate man!

When asked pertinent questions about
Allaying the public's fears or stress,
Our insecure president
Loses control and attacks the press.

For months we knew of the imminent threat,
And yet where was the preparation?
The jaw-dropping inactivity
Of our leadership endangers our nation.

Our ICU surge capacity
Must be increased, experts insist.
And personal protective equipment
Should be at the top of the list.

Unfortunately, the president's
Narcissism gets in his way.
We DON'T need empty promises;
We need action. Now! Today!

We'll get through this eventually.
Because of him? NO! In SPITE of him
Who leads us down the rabbit hole
And governs by a hunch and a whim.

-by Bob B (3-21-20)

As I age I wonder
What else lies in store
For me before I have to
Reach that other shore.
Although life has moments
Blissful and sublime,
It seems as though we all
Live on borrowed time.

We live on borrowed time….
I find each day's a pleasure--
One that I should treasure--
And so I do.
We live on borrowed time….
We deal with life's surprises;
Life means compromises.
That's so true.

We live on borrowed time….
Let's NOT just count the hours;
Let's stop and smell the flowers
Along the path.
We live on borrowed time….
If we cannot feel,
Then we have to deal
With the aftermath.

The future lies ahead,
Full of uncertainty.
Say good-bye to dread.
Loving is the key.

We live on borrowed time….
When my health is good,
I'll do what I should
To make it last.
We live on borrowed time….
I must face my trials
With hopefulness and smiles
Until they've passed.

We live on borrowed time….
Despite my best endeavor,
Nothing lasts forever,
And that's okay.
We live on borrowed time….
In the meantime, I
Will definitely try
To make the best of every day.

-by Bob B ((10-19-19)

“Lock her up!” Trump’s fans would yell
At campaign rallies in 2016.
Trump just ate it up, for he
Loves to see his fans make a scene.

Over and over, Trump would harp
About Hillary's emails, and then,
When his subsequent rally occurred,
He started in all over again.

The alleged mishandling of classified docs
Became Trump's wild and crazy fixation.
The mere mention of jailing Clinton
Would get from his crowd a loud ovation.

It didn't matter that there was no proof
Of willful negligence involved;
To lambaste Clinton in any way
He could, Donald Trump was resolved.

We know that Trump engages in conduct
That he accuses others of doing.
The FBI has taken his classified
Docs, and now the man is stewing.

In office, Trump had signed into law
A bill cracking down on anyone
Willfully mishandling
Classified docs. But what has he done?

Exactly that! Allegedly.
How ironic if we should find
That Trump is guilty and sentenced under
The very same law that he had signed!

Covering up his many wrong-doings
And breaking the rules with pomp and glee
Have been Trump's M.O. from the start.
But will it blow up in his face? We'll see.

-by Bob B (8-28-22)

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)

Look at all the parrots--
Parroting the words
Of all the other parrots--
Of all the other birds--

Parroting profusely
All the same refrains--
Parroting the constant patter
In their parrot brains--

Parroting the preaching
From the pulpit to the pews--
Parroting their parents'
And their parents' parents' views--

Parroting their leaders
And their pompous platitudes--
Parroting their peers'
Pretentious attitudes--

Parroting the patriarchs'
Proselytizing that'll
Put your teeth on edge
With their pathetic prattle--

Parroting the poppycock
Of trite pontifications--
Parroting pernicious
And sly manipulations--

Parroting the pretty birds
Whose pageantry and glory
Appeal to their prurient tastes
In each pathetic story--

Parroting the songsters
With parasitic pleasure
And counting out the rhythm
Of every pitiful measure--

Parroting the powerful
Whose ploys are so profuse,
Leaving the powerless
Pummeled with abuse--

Parroting with passion
Presumptuous prophesies
With putative contrition,
"Humbly" on their knees--

Parroting themselves--
Together all in sync--
How they love to parrot
So they don't have to think!

- by Bob B

When the day is murky
And clouds obstruct the sun,
I look for shining moments
Before the day is done.
I know it often seems
The clouds are here to stay.
Still, I hope a rainbow
Will brighten up my day.

I trust that at some point
I won't be wondering when
The gloomy clouds will leave us
And the sun will shine again.
Call it optimism
Or my naïveté,
But I still seek a rainbow
To brighten up my day.

The stormy clouds create
A harsh reality
And make the silver linings
Difficult to see.
Do not be disheartened
By what nay-sayers say.
You might see a rainbow
To brighten up your day.

I know we have to take
The bitter with the sweet.
A setback here or there
Doesn't mean defeat.
Just hang on to hope
And don't be led astray.
You will find that rainbow
To brighten up your day.

-by Bob B (3-26-20)

Have you heard of Ichneumon wasps?
Be glad you're not a caterpillar.
You'd have to be on the lookout for
The Ichneumon wasp--a serial killer.

The wasp will find a caterpillar
And suddenly will quickly surprise it
By stinging it--not to **** it--
Only to shortly paralyze it.

She lays her eggs inside her victim,
Which will eventually serve as food
For the growing larvae within--
The wasp's hungry little brood.

The larvae start with digestive organs
And chomp away on their scrumptious repast,
Somehow knowing that they must save
The heart and nervous system till last.

They keep their caterpillar host
Alive as long as they can, you see.
People say insects can feel no pain.
Would the caterpillar agree?

As Earth's living creatures evolve,
The fight for survival doesn’t seem fair.
Some creatures suffer more than others,
But nature’s indifferent and doesn’t care.

Wasps have predators as well.
Sometimes they're losers; sometimes they're winners.
The prey that escape are the lucky ones.
The unlucky prey become predators' dinners.

-by Bob B (3-10-25)

(The poem can be sung to the tune of "Little Brown Jug.")

"Sessions was what you would call
Someone who's not on the ball.
First of all, that little elf
Should not have recused himself.

"Now William Barr--well, he's my man.
From the start he was my fan.
He'd have all the tools--yup!--
To cover up a cover-up.

(Chorus)
"Ha, ha, ha, and he, he, he…
I have found a devotee.
William Barr as my AG
Will certainly look out for me.

"Obstructing justice is I know
For me the only way to go.
Somehow if you play with it,
You can get away with it.

"Stack the cards and you will manage
To give yourself a great advantage.
Barr sent signs that he would thwart
The full release of the Mueller Report.

(Chorus)
"Ha, ha, ha, and he, he, he…
I have found a devotee.
William Barr as my AG
Will certainly look out for me.

"He to such a great extent
Knew how to misrepresent
Mueller's findings. Barr was smarter,
For he could help me be a martyr.

"Confuse the public! Misconstrue
Facts so they don't know what's true.
That is how I made my mark.
My bite is much worse than my bark.

(Chorus)
"Ha, ha, ha, and he, he, he…
I have found a devotee.
William Barr as my AG
Will certainly look out for me.

"With Barr at the DOJ,
I can make a power play.
I'll have my lawyers sue sue sue.
I'll defy subpoenas, too.

"I will stonewall--yes, I will--
To frustrate all on Capitol Hill.
Supporters will stand by my side,
Ignoring all I have to hide.

(Chorus)
"Ha, ha, ha, and he, he, he…
I have found a devotee.
William Barr as my AG
Will certainly look out for me."

-by Bob B (5-1-19)

(This D.T. monologue could be sung to the melody of Billy Joel's "Honesty.")

I'm not seeking truth or love;
They won't help me climb.
I just want what lets me get ahead.
Wealth and recognition are
What matter at this time,
For I will not need either when I'm dead.

Loyalty is what I really need;
It will always make my day.
Loyalty will help me to succeed
To make sure folks do what I say.

I want folks to say to me
The things I want to hear.
Everything's transactional to me.
It's known that power and control
Are two things I revere.
I will not do anything for free.

Loyalty is what I really need;
It will always make my day.
Loyalty will help me to succeed
To make sure folks do what I say.

(bridge)
People have betrayed me;
Some have turned their backs.
They stupidly believe that I'll be numb to their attacks.
But, **** it, I'll go after them
And stop them in their tracks!
You'll see, you'll see, you'll see….

People who will work for me
Know what I expect.
I expect allegiance through and through.
But if they prove untrustworthy,
We'll have a huge disconnect.
They MUST be members of my MAGA coup!

Loyalty is what I really need;
It will always make my day.
Loyalty will help me to succeed
To make sure folks do what I say.

-by Bob B (5-8-24)