Each day she came to volunteer
In my classroom-10115
Was the day that always ran smoother
Lifting our spirits when she arrived

She pitched in wherever the need was
Above and beyond-no less
From “circle” to water play to puppet shows
Even reaching the bottom pile on my desk

Remember our wonderful yoga class
Showing kids how to do spinal twist
While checking off all she accomplished
From all the many tasks on my list

She videotaped kids doing yoga
Decorated kid art on the wall
She needed a nap after all this
But then off to shop Costcos-our mall

I hope she can hear these accolades
She’s terrific, the greatest, a dear
So thoughtful, dependable and loving-
Please remember to come back next year!

I see the universe expanding
Has been for 13 billion years
While stardust breeding planets arose
And that Dark Energy I fear

Can’t understand Dark Energy or
700 trillion miles to bear
To reach Andromeda Galaxy
When water was discovered there

Believing acceleration slowed
For 200 billion galaxies
Science proved that hypothesis wrong
Questioning even more fallacies

Each newborn star illuminated
4 billion times stronger than our eyes
Their galaxies currently revealed
Expansion’s not slowing- surprise!

Brilliantly more supernovas flew
Among 100 billion stars
For all we know this still is true
No water or air- can’t live on Mars

Her hands of seventy years
Teach without saying a word
All those baby’s heads cradled
All of her recipes stirred
Delighting in gardens she’s planted
Her hands bring deliverance
Pure fluidity like a young child
Textured by experience
All the stitches embroidered
All the cake flour sifted
So intricate, seasoned, lovely those
Hands creatively gifted
Precisely she chooses vegetables
So tenderly and knowing
Arranging flowers from her garden
All those seeds she’s still sowing
With hands of seventy years
Assured intention without guessing
That teach me without speaking
Is why I can’t forget the lesson

trump is lurching like a loose cannon
Denying evidence and logic

he separates language from meaning
When Bait and Switch is his chief project

Those xenophobic fires he’s fannin’
Spatters his word salad recklessly

Like a loose cannon

This conman sold some a bill of goods
With gibberish worse than Tinnitus

Propaganda by steve bannon
An alternate universe naked

Like a loose cannon

However I tried to hide, to flee
He taunted, "You’ll never escape from me”
Once tried to go yet stayed on flailing
Adjusting to the barbs he’s nailing  
Cooperating with my own impaling                                  
Gave up the dream of our smooth sailing
Nothing here is worth regaling
Late at night I keep on wailing
Deciding the step to take by bailing
Staying here means just keep failing