Just Tonight

Yes, it's been a while,
As if you'd even care,
The way things have been going in the world,
I suggest you don't dare,

There is no telling who will believe you,
It's based on who you are,
If it is someone's freedom on the line,
It might be they don't mind going to war,

It does not matter what's true and what's not,
Facts don't come into it,
My fourteen-year-old thinks the world's unfair,
'cause I paused internet,

You know he's right,
Who died and made me god?
Do I even know the next time I'll write?
Let us pray this isn't all that I got.

No One Should Burn

Two women set afire,
One Russian, one Chinese,
First the editor of Open Russia,
Who struck the match, no pleas,

Her home was searched, with daughter and husband,
Electronics taken,
Accused of no crime, but critical of,
The government of Vladimir Putin,

Plus a Douyin star in rural China,
Was doused in gasoline,
Then lit by her violent ex-husband,
While she was in mid-stream.

What does this mean?
The world's a nasty place,
No one should burn, even by accident,
Never for being of the human race.

Trump's Got It

Does he really have it?
I thought he might fake it,
To 'recover' fast, then say to the world,
'It's harmless, like I said,'

Maybe he has it and is really scared,
But his treatment's the best,
Dedicated doctors and private room,
He'll recover, 'It's harmless, like I said,'

Did he get too close to Joe Tuesday night,
Leaving Pence and Harris?
Do the Proud Boys now surround the White House,
To defend their mistress?

One month away,
This could be good or bad,
Either way I wish the president best,
Could be the best lesson he's ever had.

The Stress

It's got to be stressful,
No, not global warming,
Destroying homes with fires and hurricanes,
With ice shelves deforming,

Not this pandemic that is on the rise,
While people protest masks,
Comforted that mostly elderly die,
Claiming it's no big deal when someone asks,

Forget the president's fascist remarks,
His hate's unparalleled,
If you think he's no worse than th'other guy,
You can go straight to hell.

That's what I mean!
That was stress poking out,
So much chaos with so little control,
Most folks are living amidst fear and doubt.

Open and Close

Florida's now open,
A case for the U.S.,
Of the consequences of listening,
To Vice President Pence,

Who cancelled his bus trip back in July,
Due to rising cases,
He and Trump may have to a do drone drive,
To battle the fight that Donald faces,

In this swing state come November the third,
If there's anyone left,
A harsh comment amidst harsh ignorance,
And those who are bereft,

Go out and vote,
Hopefully, it will count,
Midst cries that the election will be rigged,
As the list of the president's lies mount.

Today Is Now

One moment it is there,
Whatever that might be,
Your life stuffed in garbage bags on the street,
Gone by seven-thirty,

The memories that were reality,
E'en those are not the same,
We fool ourselves that time snaps a picture,
So that what there was will always remain,

But then how could there be any regrets?
What's done is what you did,
You could not have been anybody else,
Yet, regret is constant,

Don't you agree?
It, too, is locked in time,
Flip through the moments of your history,
Before the garbage truck empties your mind.

Judge Barrett

Who's judge Amy Barrett?
It's not hard to find out,
A Conservative with the biggest 'C',
So, impartial no doubt,

Believing life begins at conception,
You know People of Praise?
Sex is only right twixt male and female,
Who are married, do not speak of the gays,

The wife must obey her husband all times,
God's word above all else,
So what happens when her's says vote one way,
Is she voting herself?

Who really knows,
Not sure I even care,
Not even sure I can truthfully say,
What membership would make the SCOTUS fair.

Is This A Movie?

Is this a musical?
Like The Sound of Music,
How do you solve a problem like Donald?
Who seems a lunatic?

That might be a bit harsh to lunatics,
He's more than just Moonstruck,
Portending he'll challenge the election,
If he doesn't win is just simply fucked.

He's laid out the tinder, lighter in hand,
St. Elmo's Fire in wait,
All because he can't stand the idea,
That he can't win with hate,

There's money, too,
He's not squeezed all he can,
From U.S. coffers in the last four years,
So Trading Places is not in his plan.

Been There, Done That

Some people are claiming,
It makes no difference,
Who you vote for on November the third,
Which don't make any sense,

Maybe if both candidates used the lies,
That we're all so used to,
That all they want's the best for everyone,
Then they win and nothing has changed for you,

That is a system that is broke, for sure,
That certainly must change,
But trying out a fascist candidate,
Is not a good exchange,

That has been tried,
Millions died fighting it,
Or simply being of a certain race,
Blamed because the existing system's shit.

The World's On Fire

It's hard to say what's next,
In the world or in life,
They say in turmoil's opportunity,
Yet all I see is strife,

Unlike what my short life has seen as of yet,
It's not mass media,
Fascism reigns while the clouds refuse to rain,
On forest fires in California,

Covid is not only killing thousands,
It's dividing many,
Conspiracy and economic castes,
Suspicion and money.

That's redundant?
I'll tell you what else is,
Each generation seeks to better things,
Then ends up getting the same prognosis.

Catching Up

RBG passed away,
Graham's reversed claims he made,
Trump will fill her seat before November,
Goodbye, Roe versus Wade,

Tik-tok can live again in the U.S.,
The data now can stay,
In America in Walmart's assets,
I'm sure there's no cash from that Trump has made,

Covid19's on the rise everywhere,
Still, folks are fighting masks,
Like science is a big conspiracy,
Led by whom, you may ask,

The same who think,
Climate change is a thing,
While forest fires are beyond control,
And the ice shelves are constantly crumbling.

To Get Through

When there's no worthy news,
You're up, distraction's not,
All you need, you can no longer afford,
Don't need what you've ere bought,

The work you've yet to do's not yet your dream,
Still, time's not stopped for you,
Nor has the world, as you try to keep up,
With doing your part, but not wanting to,

As you struggle to remember your place,
Where you were heading for,
Now that your goals have been removed from you,
At least two meters more,

Remember this,
Oh geeze, now I've forgot,
Either don't give up hope on your desires,
Or be grateful for the things that you've got.

Finland is Different

Trump won't say climate change,
Is to blame for the fires,
Ravaging California forests,
The flames getting higher,

He says it is 'poor forest management',
'Please remember the words,'
'I don't think science knows, actually',
It's not about if anybody's heard,

He may win the election anyway,
Even if people knew,
Summers are longer and winds are stronger,
Temperatures high, too.

Science is right,
It's not debatable,
Let's hope the hurricanes reach the west coast,
Because Trump won't manage this debacle.

Greek Fires

Moria's on fire,
How, they don't know yet,
Mutliple ones started at the same time,
So arson is my bet,

Thirteen thousand folks on the move again,
Amid hostile locals,
It's odd how having a home makes you feel,
Those who don't are somehow untouchable,

I chalk that to societal normals,
It's not foreign to me,
Let's face it, it's best for the government,
To promote vanity,

Keep them busy,
With fighting from within,
Whether wealth, race, or tons of other things,
You don't protest the arena you're in.

Technological Utopia

Hong Kong is violent,
Protestors and police,
Isn't it amazing what can happen,
When people don't feel peace?

Surely there is some guidance to be found,
In the citizen's will,
What does it threaten other than power,
Held by the 'leaders' atop of the hill?

Isn't there some political structure,
That's truly the people's?
Some instant techological device,
Connected to their will?

You bet there is,
But not used to do that,
Instead to guess at what they'd want to buy,
Advertising is where the money's at.

While The Music Plays

It has been seven years,
Then five hundred, five days,
That the six hundred, thirty-nine year song,
Changes the note it plays,

It's As Slow As Possible by John Cage,
Though that's a misnomer,
Of course, you won't find anything slower,
But that is human's impatient nature,

Which is a point of the composition,
Whether it's meant or not,
We seldom project beyond our own lives,
As if the world is naught,

Which it might be,
We all know, no one knows,
So, maybe it's as slow as possible,
As far as anybody's real life goes.

This Is Not The Change You Want

Before talking Iran,
Which will be Trump's next ploy,
Some confrontation before November,
In which they'll be employed,

Let's agree that change is a good concept,
In U.S. politics,
Even Obama was a victim of,
Corrupt lobbyist influence antics,

But let's not pretend Trump is an option,
To the old status quo,
His type of fascist rule's been tried before,
Let's try what we don't know,

Like good intent,
Backed by good policy,
Making America a Trump business,
Is a good recipe for bankruptsy.

The Vaccine Gambit

The vaccines are coming,
Before 3 November,
But not soon enough for people to know,
If it is a keeper,

In fact it might be a bigger killer,
Than the virus has been,
Of course this ploy's nothing to do with cures,
But Trump's desire to win by any means,

Then once he does, what will be the next move,
With the four years he's left?
Whatever can make him the most money,
By law, deceit or theft.

Please don't guffaw,
I'm not touting fake news,
That might be the one thing he won't deny,
He cares not for people, but not to lose.

Vote Twice

So, Trump says to vote twice,
Just to test the system,
As long as he is still the president,
Voter fraud don't hurt him,

Until the elections are decided,
He just stays in power,
He can refuse to concede November,
If double-votes don't work in his favor,

For then it will be democrat voters,
Who skewed all the returns,
He'll have to be dragged kicking and screaming,
That cities should now burn.

For anarchy,
Has a time and place,
Not when the system is rigged for the rich,
But when the rigging is losing its strength.

What You Know

Don't know what to believe,
From the news or your heart?
Confused by what you read and what you see?
Well, many people are,

It's getting so you can just really know,
That nothing's what you know,
A humbling fact that each generation,
Must learn from experience as it goes,

Then understand that they are not the first,
To come across this truth,
It's what's led to every revolution,
Or to anything new,

Like this thing, here,
Have you seen this before?
If you haven't, you're in good company,
You have brought my readership up to four.

Yikes

Trump's coming hard and fast,
The only way he knows,
Making claims about his presidency,
That the facts just don't show,

Making it look like he's done a great job,
Oh my god, four more years,
I guess we will all get through it again,
Maybe with nuclear burns and tears,

Maybe there's nothing anyone can do,
To repair what he's done,
Never mind the fact that if he loses,
Could be revolution,

Not by most folks,
Just those with all the guns,
With the support of the military,
For nobody will defeat Fred Trump's son.

What Are We Waiting For?

There are cars in Portland,
They came from miles away,
Filled with Trump twenty-twenty supporters,
'Cause protest goes both ways,

The citizens protest police violence,
Trump calls them anarchists,
His supporters come itching for a fight,
They're great Americans and patriots,

Meanwhile the issues ain't being discussed,
Deflect, not compromise,
Everyone's waiting for the election,
As if it is the prize,

It is the bomb,
No good can come of it,
There is no waiting for a miracle,
Only more death, destruction and riots.

Fast News Day

What is going on here?
There is nothing to write,
Not that news has stopped being reported,
But the tunnel's lost light,

The fires still burn in California,
We're all still wearing masks,
Except for those living in Florida,
Or anywhere they don't believe in facts,

Belarussians still fighting for freedom,
Don't seem to be winning,
Despite obviously still killing foes,
Putin is still grinning.

Why wouldn't he?
The powerful are safe,
I bet they must be getting pretty bored,
Life is hard when you always get your way.

The Gene Drive

Gene Drive technology,
Introduces a gene,
Into populations by scientists,
To modify offspring,

They're doing it with mosquitoes right now,
Sending disease away,
Females born of their seed will die before,
They're old enough to bite Burkinabé

This will reduce spread of Malaria
So the theory does go,
Until we see the long-term consequence,
Don't think anyone knows,

Maybe it's good,
I'm sure there's other tests,
Perhaps a gene introduced to humans,
To make us nice to the environment.

In The News

There's a coup in Mali,
Unrest there's endemic,
From French conquest in eighteen ninety-eight,
The flame put to the wick,

In Iraq hundreds of protestors killed,
Demanding social change,
A government built along ethnic lines,
The list of complaints too long to arrange,

Alexei Navalny has been poisoned,
For speaking 'gainst the state,
He now joins a long line of Putin rivals,
Who suffered the same fate.

That is not all,
I'd need a lot more days,
To outline the hard times around the world,
For the people wanting a better way.

The Point of No Return

I'm not a scientist,
I'm not a journalist,
If I were either, my headline would be,
The world is in duress,

Not due to the Corona pandemic,
Have you heard about that?
Nor would I be referencing Donald Trump,
For catastrophic actions he enacts,

I would be talking about Greenland's ice,
It's melting beyond hope,
Even if all carbon emissions stopped,
We'll soon all live in boats,

But it's not news,
Well, there are news reports,
If you scroll past the article about,
Britney Spears fighting her father in court.

The Mail Is Saved!

Louis DeJoy reversed,
No more cuts are coming,
At least until November elections,
Are well off and running,

Turns out USPS is popular,
As much as eighty points,
Many of those, of course, are elderly,
Trump couldn't put their noses out of joint,

But does he have something else up his sleeve
I can't believe that's it,
It's like when a fox sees a fatter bird,
Past one in front of it,

He changes tack,
To catch a bigger prize,
I bet he has figured out how mail fraud,
Can help to increase his voter pool size.

Never Look Back

Let's just call it over,
The turmoil is too much,
Sometimes it is best to destroy something,
Than to love it too much,

Sometimes it's better to laugh something off,
Than try to deal with it,
Though the destination's where you end up,
The way you get somewhere's as important,

In fact, time only exists on the road,
All else is a junction,
Pointing your eyes at the subsequent goal,
In your trip's succession.

Do you get it?
There is no turning back,
Even if you look directly behind,
You are looking at a wholly new track.

Trump's Next Election Ploy

Okay, maybe I'm wrong,
Elections might happen,
Except that the ploy, instead of delay,
May be it never ends,

Louis DeJoy, postmaster general,
Is also in business,
Owns millions in XPO Logistics,
That's a major conflict of interest,

He is also a staunch Trump supporter,
Trump's slowing down the mail,
By withholding funds it needs to work right,
So remote voting fails.

That's what he said!
Now the vote can occur,
"The problem with mail...you're never going,
to know when the election is over."

Kamala's 'merican

Biden chose Kamala,
The world is rejoicing,
A woman of color vice president,
That's if they are winning,

Meanwhile Trump is mispronouncing her hame,
Pronouncing her foreign,
Based on a baseless claim by John Eastman,
He's a republican law professor,

Because I'm sure the Dems won't address it,
For it holds no water,
Since Trump will say it again, I'll rebutt,
Just once, for the record,

She's 'merican,
Born in Oakland, C.A.,
I'll just throw out these last two final lines,
There's not really anything else to say.

Belarus

Lukashenko's a tyrant,
The people demand more,
He's ruled Belarus with an iron fist,
Since nineteen ninety-four,

There have been elections, but they are rigged,
There's protests in the streets,
They say the arrested have been tortured,
They've shared photos showing where they've been beat,

The history of Belarus is hard,
First free, nineteen-fourteen,
Nazis to Communists to Chernobyl,
They're a country between,

What will they be,
When this next stage is done?
Will they be a nascent democracy?
Will they jump to what we all should become?

Good Morning

Don't let it get you down,
The sameness 'mongst the change.
Life is short, but it is extremely long,
There's time to rearrange,

There's time to realize it is magical,
Each day, it is a gift,
When is the last time that you thought of that,
So that your consciousness truly did shift?

It's not trite to appreciate it all,
Existence versus not,
A live dog's better than a dead lion,
No matter what it's got,

Or doesn't got,
Try taking just one day,
Pretending it's your first day on this earth,
Now, what is it that you would like to say?

QAnon

 Have you been red-pilling?
Do you know what that means?
Awareness of the satanic cabal,
That controls what we see,

Trump is leading the battle against them,
Don't let fake news deny,
Everything that you thought you knew is wrong,
Unless you thought that all your read was lies,

Gates created the global pandemic,
To put chips in us all,
If you have truoble believing this fact,
You're owned by the cabal.

This is all real,
For those who believe it,
Which is a growing number of people,
With more vigor than those who think it's shit.

Too Much and Never Enough

I have not read the book,
Though I heard Mary Trump,
Talk an hour about her family,
So here is the sum-up,

Donald's father was a sociopath,
So hard on brother Fred,
He could no longer live in his shadow,
Now Don's president and his brother's dead,

Antisemitism was typical,
Racist, you bet they were,
Forget that Mary isn't hetero,
Grandma used the 'F' word.

But nothing's new,
Those who vote Trump this year,
If there's an election, won't read the book,
Though, if they did, might hold him e'en more dear.

What's News?

There aren't many facts,
Available to us,
About how much Russia's interfering,
In polls in the U.S.

But you can be sure that if they're the first,
They're certainly not last,
Information warfare's the new Cold War,
Unchecked by nonproliferation pacts,

An insidious enemy to truth,
That renders news defunct,
Sure, Trump can go around calling it fake,
'Cause that can't be debunked,

Because it can't,
It is too polarized,
Different reports on the same event,
Facts altered to appeal to certain eyes.

In Arctic News

Canada's last ice shelf,
Collapsed without fanfare,
An area larger than Manhattan,
Went poof, into thin air,

Into open water and high heat, too,
What a contribution,
For sixty years, temps risen faster there,
THey call it arctic amplification,

So now all that fresh water is ocean,
It took about three days,
The irony is that more open seas,
Increases the sun's rays,

Something like that,
I doubt you care, do ya?
Maybe the ocean levels will rise up,
To put out wildfires in California.

Warehouse 12

Thousands have been injured,
Over one hundred dead,

Hundreds of thousands left without a home,
Could have been avoided,

Two thousand, seven hundred fifty tonnes,
Of ammonium nitrate,
Stored at the Beirut port for seven years,
From a Russian ship whose payments were late,

Despite the knowledge of the government,
About the dangers there,
Thirteen hundred times Oklahoma's bomb,
Sat like a fatal dare,

That then blew up,
Seems from a fire next door,
Lebanese stringing nooses from windows,
Demanding to know who they made them for.

The Last Hope

While we're recovering,
From the shock of it all,
People with unlimited resources,
Have taken the big haul,

They bought up gold and redirected funds
In anticipation,
Of the reaction of the populous,
Due to the pandemic's devastation,

While those who have to live from day to day,
Started to fall behind,
Less pay, no savings, interest on their debt,
Long waits in groc'ry lines,

The perfect storm,
For cementing power,
What's needed now is for the aliens,
To come save us in this, our final hour.

Even If

Any way you cut it,
It will be a circus,
Assuming there's even an election,
This year in the U.S.,

Trump supporters will show up in person,
By the way, with no mask,
Early results will show that he's ahead,
Stopping him from claiming a win's the task,

Even if mail-in votes are all Biden,
Putting him in the lead,
Trump won't accept those results anyway,
Refusing to concede,

While president,
He's that until hand-off,
Think of the things he could do in that time,
A mad scramble for profit and chaos.

The Ship

In two thousand eighteen,
The Morandi bridge fell,
Once thought Italy's engineering gem,
Forty-three people killed,

Amidst the rubble and Covid nineteen,
A new bridge took its place,
Architect Renzo Piano made it,
Combining modernity, strength and grace,

Sweeping like a ship across Genoa's,
Polcevera River,
May it last much more than the fifty years,
Of its predecessor,

Oh, and let's not,
Let Benetton steward,
This bridge and be its own inspector, too.
Before the last one, that would be absurd.

You Don't Get It, Yet

Will there be a vaccine?
Will the world be submerged,
By the deluge of the SARS2 virus,
Amid this recent surge?

Russia's administering its vaccine,
As of this October,
The U.S. thinks its will come by year end,
Though you can bet you'll need to be insured,

Britain's buying one hundred million shots,
From AstraZeneca,
It seems it's every country for itself,
Sucks to be India.

Who're we kidding?
There're billions on this earth,
My guess, ten percent might get a vaccine,
Chosen primarily based on their worth.

As The Date Impends

And so it has begun,
Sorry, I told you so,
Now that Hong Kong has delayed elections,
Trump is having FOMO,

He's claimed mail-in voting's fraught with errors,
Despite no clear-cut facts,
Announced the vote should be delayed until,
The pandemic he's unleashed is cut back,

Sure, the law says that he cannot do that,
All houses must agree,
But what's the rule if he has to call a,
State of emergency?

Well, we'll find out,
He'll never accept mail,
Not because he thinks it's not accurate,
If it's his coffin, he'll reject the nail.

Play Ball

Let's chronicle this one,
Not that it's a slow day,
Cases are spiking all over the world,
Much in the U.S.A,

Trump announced he was throwing the first pitch,
At a Yankee's ball game,
An hour before Doctor Fauci did,
At the Nationals' opening day,

Turns out the president was never asked,
Nor were they going to,
Three days later he said he couldn't go,
The Yankee's exclaimed, "phew!"

Without a mask,
Though Fauci did, that night,
They say Trump was jealous because this man,
Says Covid's black when Trump says that it's white.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert

So, Kylie Moore-Gilbert,
(I have just heard of her),
Was jailed in Iran, two thousand, eighteen,
At the Tehran airport,

She was a lecturer in Australia,
With Australian passport,
Just on her way home from a conference,
Arrested for being an informer,

She has been moved to the Qarchak prison,
Notoriously bad,
Sorry Iran, but 'bad' in your country,
Will surely make her mad,

I mean crazy,
She's not seen her fam'ly,
Sleeping on the floor, confined in the hole,
Eight years left for something she's never been.

One Point About Subjugation

It's a touchy subject,
Project sixteen nineteen,
Repositioning school curriculum,
To address slavery,

The foundation upon which the U.S.,
Built its economy,
It arguably wasn't dismantled,
Just a new coat of paint on old buildings,

But law-makers like Senator Cotton,
Disagree with this tack,
Bondage was a necessary evil,
Before it could be thwacked.

But wait, says Jones,
The founder of this cause,
If such horror's fine to get where we are,
Then the same logic could write future laws.

What Makes More Sense?

The average Joe you meet,
Unless pushed to limits,
Would do all he can to avoid tumult,
Peace is best, isn't it?

That's why when large crowds protest in the streets,
By far, most will behave,
The fact that they leave the comforts of home,
Prove they're upset with the government's ways,

They're enacting their rights written in law,
To have peaceful protests,
But when cops respond with tear gas and clubs,
They're pushed to the limits,

Then government says,
They're anarchists and thugs,
Detracting from the whys they're protesting,
Preferring violence instead of hugs.

Check In

I don't know what to choose,
The Yemen massacre?
There is the pandemic that has no cure,
It's not getting fewer,

Maybe could be the U.S. election,
If it even happens,
The massive support for Black Lives Matters,
Plus the call for cop funding retraction,

The environment's not getting better,
With the Covid focus,
The Amazon's burning more than ever,
Brazil's not Bezos'

His is awesome,
At least for his profits,
The people working in his warehouses,
Their pay and treatment are the pits.

Every Eight Minutes

Ninety-nine percent white,
Eighty o'er sixty-five,
Last vote Donald had seventy percent,
Since, there's far less alive,

SARS2 is killing lots in Florida,
One every eight minutes,
Eighty-two percent senior citizens,
Of all cases, they're just thirteen percent,

Now Trump's cancelled his rally in that state,
He now says Covid's dire,
But it is all about the election,
He don't want to be fired.

Here is his plan,
If there's even a vote,
Make his supporters think it's safe to go,
While those who know, don't and can't vote remote.

Record Body Count

We all live where we live,
Moving's not natural,
Rather than uproot and change locations,
We hope for upheaval,

That opportunities will get better,
That other people change,
In the thick of Chicago violence,
You're walking through the fields of a gun range,

But where can you go that will be safer?
If not death, then hardship.
If you think you're free to find a new place,
Go try to take that trip,

You'll find the same,
Wherever you may go,
There's an invisible tunnel we walk,
Keeping the rich with rich and poor with poor.

The Despotic State

TikTok's owned by China,
Google by the U.S.,
Plus Facebook, Amazon and Macintosh,
Plus more I just can't list,

All of them utilize algorithms,
To monitor users,
All you need do is type a certain way,
For them to know your primary druthers,

Then they help advertisers target you,
That is the end of that,
Until governments demand access, too,
Maoists or democrats,

It don't matter,
They'll all do the same thing,
Repress groups that undermine their power,
Promote behavior that's non-threatening.

What's The Truth

SARS2 is on the rise,
Now among young people,
Trump says wearing masks is patriotic,
Hedging bets for the polls,

I've said it once, I will say it again,
"If there's an election",
The admission that Covid's getting worse,
Allows him to proclaim justitium,

Now QAnon's been booted off Twitter,
It incites violence,
A chance to claim it's a conspiracy,
Before the election,

No one can win,
When the truth is deep state,
Connect two unrelated things with lies,
By the time you refute them, it's too late.

Until Next Time

I've got nothing to say,
That's not been said before,
Treat others as you'd have them treat yourself,
There will always be war,

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,
Tomorrow's a new day,
Life could be a dream, it could be a step,
To a new world, based on how you behave,

Follow your bliss, no matter what they say,
Respect mental illness,
Nothing's for certain but death and taxes,
Except that life's a mess.

So, there you go,
Do with that what you will,
If I never write down another thing,
You can always come back to this one, still.

Suppression of the Right to Free Assembly

The first amendment's meant,
To protect assembly,
For the purpose of government grievance,
Of the citizenry,

As long as those gatherings are peaceful,
They must be left alone,
So arresting peaceful demonstrators,
Should categorically not be condoned,

Tear gassing and using rubber bullets,
For sure, off the table,
Random arrests by the military,
Signs that law's unstable,

It's suppression,
Not liking the grievance,
Changing the message from people displeased,
To anarchist mobs bent on violence.

The Play on Words

The Washington R words,
Are going to change their name,
After Daniel Snyder claiming for years,
It would remain the same,

But now the owner is changing his tune,
For no woke impetus,
The economic pressures are too great,
To afford to be a dick in this case,

Meanwhile fifteen women have spoken up,
Who work at the same place,
Claiming widespread sexual misconduct,
Probably despite race.

To quote the bard,
On etymology,
This team by any other name will still,
Stink as much as it has since the thirties.

Back to School

Science should be ignored,
So McEnany says,
It is good for kids to go back to school,
Like in the good old days,

Full days in packed classrooms, sharing supplies,
Assuming you're not rich,
The proportions having not really changed,
Though, you're richer or living in a ditch,

There're lots of benefits she doesn't name,
Like parents back to work,
Kids indoctrinated with love of state,
Too busy for homework,

The dangerous kind,
Like why the president,
Is pulling back on climate change targets,
When we soon won't have an environment.

If It's Not Enforced...

I saw the ads, today,
Promoting Goya foods,
First Ivanka Trump displaying a can,
Quote, "It has to be good."

Then her father in the Oval Office,
Smiling behind his desk,
With a line of Goya products on it,
His thumbs-up declaring their food the best,

Never mind that they just supported Trump,
For his re-election,
It's an example of him flouting laws,
Money for promotion,

This is not new,
He does it everyday,
The real news is that the U.S. allows this,
There's no punishment should he disobey.

Falling Below 2.1

There's a coming crisis,
In about eighty years,
Not the environment or asteroids,
Or more pandemic fears,

I'm not talking a nuclear disaster,
Though that could still happen,
Alien invasion's on the table,
As is the world's end in Revelations,

Instead it looks like world populations,
Are going to go down,
About half of the people globally,
Than what can now be found.

Is that so bad?
It is for the young ones,
Who have to take care of all the old farts,
Though it's good after a generation.

Fauci Bare

Even a scientist,
Committed to the facts,
Will find no respite from Donald Trump's ire,
And obfuscating tacks,

That administration published a list,
Of all Fauci got wrong,
Which are arguably things that he got right,
Using the data he had to work from,

Key on the Coronavirus task force,
He says U.S. did bad,
Trump says the U.S. is doing the best,
So Fauci can't be had.

It's all a sham,
The truth doesn't matter,
Just create a atmosphere of distrust,
So all argument becomes mere chatter.

It's a Small World

Magic Kingdom's open!
They are in quite a state,
Fourth most daily cases on planet earth,
That's among countries, mate,

Hospitals are over-packed, as it is,
There's no room for Mickey,
Still, if anyone can keep people safe,
I would put all my money on Disney,

Much less on the federal government,
Unless I'm big business,
With bail-outs they are practically immune,
From this global virus,

Not Florida,
Oh man, what's still to come?
Will letting Covid run rampant like this,
Lead to something other than destruction?

The Masked President

Trump finally wears a mask,
Now all I can wonder,
Is not how many lives he's protecting,
But what's hiding under,

A smirk 'cause he commuted Roger Stone?
Over the Russia 'hoax',
Or he really believes that Kanye West,
Will take away lots of Joe Biden's votes,

Maybe it's a frown at his niece Mary's,
Claims about his daddy,
That when Trump speaks, it's to his dead father,
'cause he was raised badly.

In any case,
Maybe the posts will stop,
Of Trump voters refusing to wear masks,
Claiming the virus doesn't harm a lot.

Justice for All

Trump has commuted Stone,
He's absolute pow'r, right?
Well, not according to the supreme court,
Who ruled on July ninth,

That Trump has to give up his tax records,
Thanks to his appointees,
Like Nixon and Jefferson before him,
Presidents cannot do just what they please,

There is rule of law, which all must obey,
Though Trump would argue that,
This is a witch hunt, according to him,
Led by the Democrats.

It's all for naught,
If there's an election,
Those tax records still will have not come out,
The law and his wealth let him drag this on.

The Law of Morality

The U.S. Supreme Court,
Has upheld a Trump switch,
That takes away coverage of birth control,
If employers are dicks,

If companies have moral objections,
Or also religious,
The women working for them/s out of luck,
Imagine the backroom analysis.

Let's also not forget contraception's,
An onus on women,
A baby's not made without two sexes,
Still, there's no pill for men,

Well, there is one,
It is called Viagra,
That one is covered by health insurance,
While leaving women sterile under law.

Watch What You Say

China gave up Hong Kong,
In eighteen forty-two,
Punishment for halting Brit drug cartels,
Didn't know that, did you?

But now the territory's a nexus,
Of control and freedom,
Despite China's promise of liberty,
People cannot criticize their nation,

For fifty years, China was to lay off,
After that, no one cares,
Maybe they should have waited, for by then,
The world might be all theirs.

China's, I mean,
The people never win,
You fight against an ideology,
A new one's always ready to tap in.

Not Wearing a Mask's Not a Right

Don't want to wear a mask,
To protect your freedom?
Claiming it is against your human rights,
Like discrimination?

Like someone's holding you against a tree,
Beating you for your race?
Is it the same as the state taking you,
Claiming you were standing in the wrong place?

Would you also prefer not to wear clothes,
For they restrict your nards?
Oh, that would expose you to other nards,
Well, now you've shown your cards.

A human right,
Allows the most freedom,
While protecting others from actions that,
Might expose them to things like infections.

What You Must

Don't expect anything,
If you've not fought for it,
If nothing's ventured nothing's gained, my friend,
According to the best,

Then again, sometimes you have to sit back,
Wait for what is to come,
You cannot force the universe's hand,
To satisfy your greed and ambition,

Though you must know what's brought you luck before,
Don't ruin a good thing,
Maybe you just have to not think at all,
To get everything,

I wouldn't know,
I've not figured it out,
Yet, that might be the very thing 'bout me,
For I succeed for as long as I doubt.

If You're Lucky

If you are feeling wayward in these times,
Trust me, you're not alone,
Lost jobs, lost friends, and lost sense of purpose,
While secluded at home,

Your previous life never to return,
Perhaps happily so,<
The realization that things weren't right,
But you didn't have some place else to go,

Now here you are, anything's possible,
No opportunities,
A world filled with people in the same boat,
All with unfulfilled dreams,

If they're lucky,
Not dealing with worse things,
Would this could be everybody's problem,
Instead of fear of just not surviving.

What Will The Change Be?

On the fourth of July,
Mount Rushmore was Trump's lair,
It's no coincident those presidents,
Were all defaced elsewhere,

By frustrated citizens calling out,
For the U.S. to see,
That it is built on discrimination,
Which is the real threat to democracy,

While the other side takes the threat bold-faced,
Nobody likes to change,
We're all created quite young and live quite short,
Few folks want to exchange,

Their precious time,
To relearn how to live,
The next generation always defines,
What the next one will demand it give.

November(?) Prediction

If there's an election,
Donald will win again,
He has mastered divisive politics,
He is playing Biden,

If something bad happens, it's someone else,
Something good, then it's Trump,
Anything he says will be forgotten,
As the tweets of absurdity pile up,

Unforgivingly militaristic,
Greedy beyond compare,
The only choice worse to the dems and reps,
Would be Sanders up there,

Why? I don't know,
What's opposite of Trump?
Endorsing policies that help the poor,
Whose lobby money falls short at the pump.

Monkey Business

Monkeys pick coconuts,
A thousand in a day,
Compare that to eighty by a human,
You'll see what I'm to say,

There exist schools, at least, in Thailand,
To which infants are bussed,
Harshly treated, isolated and caged,
To produce coconut water for us,

Regardless if you think monkeys can feel,
Think what this really is,
Indicative of how humans behave,
When they act as they wish,

Not everyone,
Good apples still abound,
But they get old and withered spending time,
Dealing with the bad apples that are found.

In Other News

Elephants are dying,
From some unknown disease,
Hundreds lay face down, others walk addled,
Don't cross to humans, please,

The Amazon is burning down faster,
Than nature would allow,
Bolsonaro's just letting it happen,
Because the making money Trumps the how,

Putin will soon rule Russia forever,
Gay people will love that,
China is revoking democracy,
In Hong Kong, despite pacts.

It's not all bad,
Let me just search the news...
Because I have to post this Wath today,
Please, give me some time to get back to you.

The Top Gun

The worse is yet to come,
Says WHO about SARS2,
While Tom Cruise preps for astronaut training,
To film during this flu,

Maybe he'll single-handedly save us,
Like in War of the Worlds,
Come down from space with a vaccine he made,
Giving it to all of the boys and girls,

He could do this Mission Impossible,
Not jaded by profit,
He's got enough money not to be swayed,
That some should first get it.

I'm not saying,
It's not Risky Business,
But if there's only A Few Good Men left,
Tom's the one to get us out of this mess.

Deadly Distraction

There is not enough room,
To fit in just one Wath,
The number of false things that Trump reports,
About what he can doth,

For example, he cannot execute,
A federal command,
To impose ten years prison on vandals,
Of statues, no matter his orange tan,

He just does not have the authority,
Still, two days after that,
He proclaims that vandalism has stopped,
Funny, but for the fact,

He's president,
Servant to the people,
While they are distracted by this nonsense,
Many doth die from his inaction, still.

Speechless

I may delete this post,
Once I've said what I need,
Just like the president of the U.S.,
Did Sunday with his tweet,

I won't include a video of fans,
Yelling out, 'white power',
But it will stay long enough to live on,
To grow into a bouquet of flowers,

For those who think the same way as I do,
I'll not apologize,
I'll pretend I did not hear what all heard,
'Cause I am just that guy.

Racist and proud,
(Not me, the other dude),
I am rambling because I cannot believe,
The U.S. leader has that attitude.

The Mob That Came After Him

Hal Niedzviecki is back,
After three years hidden,
Denounced for his words in a magazine,
On appropriation,

Says his words were taken out of context,
Then made to sound obscene,
A mob rose up and destroyed a career,
That supported the voice of non-mainstream

But more, still, it is a dangerous slope,
To quash public debate,
Yet, while he was snubbed, the discourse did rage,
Though I did not partake,

I was afraid,
Of entering the fray,
That being said, I wonder whether Hal,
Would still write the same article today.

Why Argue?

It's not just 'bout a noose,
Or when it had been tied,
If the garage was given to Bubba,
Because it was inside,

That it was just one knot of eleven,
Tied in just that manner,
Or who would think it might be the best choice
To employ as a door-closing handle,

Dismiss that out of sixteen, eighty-four,
Only one existed,
Or its history in America,
Just in case you missed it.

All should be moot,
If superseding all,
We hold these truths to be self-evident,
That all people are created equal,

What If Everyone Was Equal in the U.S.?

What if all were equal,
In the United States,
No matter color or yearly income,
So all treatments equate,

Stopped on the street for walking down the street,
Or for driving a car,
Treated like a criminal for no cause,
Given ketamine for acting bizarre,

Tasered despite not resisting arrest,
For doing nothing wrong,
Then asphyxiated until you die,
With no repercussions?

What would that be?
A police state, I'd guess.
Thank God equality doesn't exist,
His blessing continues through all of this.

Where Are the Peaceful Protests?

Are protests violent,
In the U-S of A?
Do the thousands of people in the street,
Want to be seen that way?

Without having the proper statistics,
If such things do exist,
It might be interesting to think of,
The possible motives of politics,

To respond with force to peaceful movements,
Then claim it justified,
Scaring voters who just want to feel safe,
Into voting for lies.

For truth's scary,
For those paid to hide it,
By a system that requires poverty,
Well, I'm not sure the poor want to bide it.

Meet Brandon Saenz

Do you know Brandon Saenz?
He's twenty-six years old,
Wandered into a protest in Dallas,
More curious than bold,

He was walking with the crowd, then he paused,
That is in his own words,
Cops with shields and everything were on guard,
First, a loud noise go boom was all he heard,

Then he had his hand on his gushing eye,
Well, where it used to be,
A crowd tried helping him, the cops said move,
How's that democracy?

I mean, come on,
Free speech is a real thing,
These protests are more protests to protest,
The war the cops have waged on protesting.

Freezing Work Visas

Trump has now put a freeze,
On foreign work visas,
To free up jobs for Americans that,
They already did pass,

Or they ere weren't qualified to do,
Hence, companies looked out,
Now in the name of putting folks to work,
The quality of the output's in doubt,

That's not to say citizens can't train up,
But then, what will happen,
When they want to do work out of country,
But none will let them in?

It's tit for tat,
But I think Trump wants more,
Some countries have thought in the recent past,
That being self-sufficient's good for war.

Just Heard of Diamond and Silk

Diamond and Silk tweeted,
If you've nothing to do,
"Fear is a great way to control people,"
With a video to view,

It includes various experts talking,
How when somebody dies,
That even if the cause was something else,
If you had Covid, then the system lies,

Recording the death as a Covid death,
To somehow control you,
To stifle the economy, as well?
I couldn't quite construe,

But I'm biased,
I'd rather we fixate,
On continuing to minimize deaths,
By still not letting people congregate.

Generation What?

Name this generation?
How about Disenchant?
They will have spent more time with their parents,
Than either one's penchant,

They will be doyens of working from home,
Well, 'working's' relative,
Maybe they should claim Zoomer for themselves,
The smogless air means more of us will live,

Will their awareness of distance name them?
Never to touch again,
Low rates of SARS, the flu and common cold,
The Cleansed generation?

Whatever name,
Let's hope they make things right,
All the good practices they are learning,
They might become generation Delight.

Bubble View

I am in my bubble,
With those I cannot lose,
Our thoughts align, our histories relate,
No challenge to my views,

We live within another bubble, too,
The country guiding us,
Through this pandemic, not to save our lives,
But keep the economy prosperous,

There are other bubbles I'll never know,
Except through news reports,
Horrid scenes seen from every perspective,
Depending on the source,

I am alone,
As is everybody,
Looking out, always, from my own bubble,
Ne'er not seeing things through at least one screen.

Add It To The List

When you cut your finger,
Leaving a bit behind,
It makes you think about the rest of you,
From big toe to your mind,

The smallest spots you would tend to forget,
Like underneath your chin,
Where any form of ailment could arise,
To leave a lot of work for next of kin,

Any joint or valve or system can fail,
They do all of the time,
Forget what you could get, getting too close,
There's the virus of time.

Don't get me wrong,
Wear a mask when you shop,
But just because a new risk surfaces,
Does not mean every other risk just stops.

Covid Manifesto

I'm the SARS2 virus,
Waiting inside your lungs,
Carried off as you're expelling your breath,
To those that you're among,

Joining my friends who were waiting as well,
Some in the same droplet,
Will a nostril be close enough to reach,
Suck us up not knowing you are sick, yet?

Hopefully, enough of us make it there,
To really make a home,
We'll travel new places inside and out,
Life's meaning is to roam,

You're our vessel,
Sorry we cause you stress,
You're existence is not dissimilar,
As we fly through the air, we see your mess.

Keep Hope

Trump appointed Gorsuch,
To U.S. supreme court,
When Anthony Kennedy left the bench,
A long gay rights stalwart,

Then Trump took away transgender healthcare,
What more could you expect?
An obvious swing over to the right,
It's bad news for LGBT prospects,

But, lo and behold, Gorsuch stands up,
With right-wing judge Roberts,
So now gay and transgender employees,
Have protection at work.

Are things better?
You bet your ass they are,
There's still a lot to do for many folks,
But less than than hundreds of years past, by far.

Choices

Remorse reflects choices,
Choices have to be made,
E’er based on insufficient evidence,
No matter the plans laid,

There is always a gut thrown in the mix,
A human condition,
Let the cards lay as they have been put down,
The least of your worry’s their position,

More to the point are the other people,
With decisions to make,
Do yours align and will the consequence,
Improve things, give or take?

That’s all we want,
Utilitarians,
Think of a choice that you have to decide,
Choose the path that’s best for the most humans.

The True Facts

Who cares where it came from?
Well, maybe we should all.
Was it a bat that got too close to us,
Because of urban sprawl,

Or was Covid and engineered virus,
Meant to be weaponized,
Mutated so it will harms enemies,
The mass-produced to be militarized?

In either case we have a big problem,
Really both, in the end,
A species growing too fast for the earth,
Bent on self-destruction.

It makes you think,
How much, then, we should care,
Maybe we should leave that to the people,
Who only want to have peace and clean air.

We're Back, Baby

It is time to relax,
It's all under control,
High fives and hugs spread all over the place,
Let's let the good times roll!

Or is it that we know that if we don't,
There's other aftermaths,
Like the sixteen weeks of CERB running out?
For poverty, as of yet, there's no masks,

So, we try to get back to our normal,
Which is one of many.
Don't think capitalist economy,
Is what we're meant to be.

But I digress,
The point's we're back on track!
We can all return to the ideal life,
We all lived before the SARS 2 attack.

Turning Tables

It's all conspiracy,
Because it is hidden,
Layer on layer of information,
That's the age we live in,

Revealing truth enlarges the onion,
Sinking others deeper,
A pyramid structure turned on its head,
So you have to dig to find the leader,

Still, the will of the people can align,
With the cyclops's greed,
You cannot bring it down any farther,
So find out where it feeds,

Then, keep it full,
Make the captor love you,
Turn your cage into a sanctuary,
Now you're on top, just like you wanted to.

With Generous Support

There's really no telling,
Who is behind it all,
So many players playing with high stakes,
All too massive to fall,

Their intentions so wrapped in more profit,
Direction moves like wind,
No wonder sometimes they happen to do,
Something good for the mass population,

So maybe it doesn't really matter,
Who is sponsoring who,
If your causes has cause to benefit hem,
It will benefit you.

That's how it is.
Now that you know it is,
Do you play the system as it's played you,
Or tear it down for a new existence?

Minneapolis Dream

Disbanding the police?
Why does that not seem real?
Communities taking care of themselves,
Helping their folks to heal?

Instead of the cops coming to her door,
They'll send social workers,
If she is experiencing mental stress?
But how will the social worker shoot her?

My mind is whirling amidst this new news,
Have they thought of white homes?
If someone looks suspicious on the street,
They'll just be free to roam?

Oh, and the fear!
How will that be doled out?
So many questions that just weren't asked,
Before council voted on this, no doubt.

WHO's To Blame?

WHO wasn't on first base,
In this pick-up ball game,
They were shagging balls while some people called,
To end it due to rain,

The irony of mitigation plans,
You can't know if they worked,
We may as well have let people run wild,
WHO is to say it would be that much worse,

Hmm, that is a very intriguing ask,
But thanks to the U.S.,
We've a great example of ignoring,
Until it is a mess.

But then, WHO knows,
Maybe it's all their fault,
Of course, they are the convenient scapegoat,
For those who ran to home, when WHO said halt.

If We Wanted To

Do not look to knowledge,
To know what you should do,
Lots of people have learned all sorts of things,
But will still oppress you,

Not because experience to this point,
Points to what you should do,
Rather, what you want can be supported,
By any historical facts you choose,

Instead look to the person that you are,
Don't ask me who that is,
It's just a hope that if we're all honest,
We'll reach the same thesis,

That there's no truth,
That says to be unfair,
That if we all just simply agreed to,
All living things could just be treated fair.

The Duty Of Leaders

Some people are asking,
How our prime minister,
Can kneel in the middle of a protest,
Against George Floyd's murder,

When he hasn't solved racism right here.
How dare he claim the right?
Before I answer, let me reminisce,
With wisdom of twenty-twenty hindsight,

When a president responded with ire,
To citizen unrest,
With proclamations of indignation,
Spouting force, deadliest.

What if, instead,
He had expressed remorse,
Acknowledged the injustice systemic,
Encouraging all join him on that course?

Next Steps

Things might be calming down,
Is this before the storm?
A standing down of police aggression,
Does not alter the norm,

Somehow demonstration must be second,
To open dialogue,
Put down the tear gas, then hear what is said,
It is not enough to disperse the fog,

The cleared air must be filled with honesty,
Acknowledge what is wrong,
Then back that up with actions that will change,
What first started the throngs,

See, that is all,
Doesn't seem hard, does it?
Of course it requires an acknowledgment,
By millions that racism is systemic.

HBDDT

Happy birthday, Donald,
You're older than I'd guess,
Which is more to do with your odd color,
And rat-nesty tresses,

More to do with your childish reaction,
To life-and-death matters,
A perspective aimed at personal gains,
Despite the millions of lives it shatters,

I feel childish, too, for childish attacks,
Though my words stop right here,
A leader is wise, leads by example,
Which surpasses mere years,

I guess I'm wrong,
You, in fact, look your age,
It's your office your image falls short of,
Disdaining good-will while endorsing rage.

Writing

Don't try to say something,
You'll lose your way for it,
You'd have to know first where you are going,
Which sounds like rhetoric,

But don't go straying without first knowing,
The place whence you did start,
There is no meaning when one's wandering,
Is not chronicled by an assured heart,

Let intention surrender to your feet,
Commenting on the way,
Whether where you stepped is someplace that you,
Would be willing to stay,

If not, move on,
You are not there, quite yet,
You will know when you can stop exploring,
When your journey is all that need be said.

Afterwards

I don't know what to think,
'bout what will happen next,
From what I read written by the experts,
It's anybody's guess,

Will there be an election November?
If yes, then who will win?
A vaccine distributed early next year,
Or forever degrees of quarantine?

Empire implodes after years of decline,
Or back to status quo?
A population drained of energy,
After the to and fro,

With the army,
The greatest on the earth,
No matter the outcome of these strange days,
I hope we're all kinder, for what it's worth.

The Whys

Trump will need many feet,
To stomp out the unrest,
Or play the fastest game of wack-a-mole,
To satisfy his quest,

Of using force to silence citizens,
It's not about riots,
It might be the chance he's been looking for,
To proclaim November's election quits,

He maybe really just shoots from the hip,
With no actual plan,
Some root·in'-toot·in' Buddha Rambo clown,
Emperor of the land.

Or just jealous?
He'd just beaten Covid,
In the headlines after months of tweeting,
Undermined by what Derek Chauvin did.

The Bubble

U.S. anger's rising,
Blowing up on the streets,
Protesting social injustice for blacks,
Defying Trumps' tweets,

Thousands together despite Corona,
This has more importance,
But then, a new spike will arise from this,
Among those with the least life insurance

In a system not engineered to help,
The ones mostly toiling,
At some point all hands will be raised up high,
No, not surrendering,

But in dismay,
For they've had no respite,
Show me another country in the world,
That's facing so much of its people's spite.

The Perfect Storm

It is hard to let go,
In the face of chaos,
A virus clamoring to take us all,
Yet some suffer more loss,

Then in the midst of this, the same old game,
Is played on certain groups,
So they stand up to protest against it,
Only to have to face off against troupes,

Which will exacerbate the pandemic,
Of course, it is worth it,
If this is what it takes to impel change,
Then let us do this shit,

But will things change?
Not a popular ask,
If standing up for yourself does nothing,
Then why bother even wearing a mask?

The Great Divide

The depression is here,
As some gain their freedom,
Others watch as the life that they dreaded,
Is on the horizon,

Not so close if they are not affluent,
Someone's got to be first,
Let us get those with waiting privilege,
Set back up before we release the cursed,

With some restrictions put in place, of course,
Those folks can't be trusted,
If they cannot succeed in a fixed game,
They'll get the house busted,

Left to their own,
They must be monitored,
Lest they ruin it for the one percent,
The ones deciding who can go outdoors.

Sapiens

Have you read Sapiens?
I won't spoil the ending,
It follows the history of humans,
'til two thousand, fourteen,

First off, the cognitive revolution,
Put us a step ahead,
Then farming allowed us to procreate,
Faster than any animal e'er had,

Industry let cow births surpass our own,
Their deaths far exceed that,
Overall our survival seems locked,
Well, climate may react.

Then there's SARS 2,
That didn't exist, yet,
As Harari says, history's one path,
While the future's choice is made with each step.

The Other Illness

What virus killed George Floyd,
In Minneapolis?
The contact trail would not be hard to trace,
Starting with the police,

Causing difficulty breathing in blacks,
Resisting calls to cease,
Others cannot get close enough to help,
Afraid they would contract the same disease,

Death is not diminished with quarantine,
It can break down your doors,
Risks include lack of opportunity,
And chances you'll be poor.

What is the cure?
Nothing's seemed to work, yet,
Compared to it, Covid just can't stand up,
Hundreds of years, countless numbers of deaths.

The Threshold

"It's deeply disturbing,"
What else could Justin say?
Nursing home conditions amid Covid,
Bring disgust and dismay,

Canadian military came in,
To try to help them out,
They found cockroaches, rotten food and flies,
While the pleas from residents left no doubt,

Overworked and probably scared, as well,
Plus, maybe, just not good,
Some employees left patients in their chairs,
Amid their piss and poop.

It is a shame,
The world's fragility,
Never mind when things are the status quo,
Stress on the system leads to travesty.

Wait For It

Long before Corona,
In two thousand and eight,
An economic collapse rarely seen,
Made borrowing cash great,

Money was printed out of thin air,
Then sold for really cheap,
Awaiting the day science came up with,
Some new and lucrative technology,

The world had still been riding that bubble,
When told to go inside,
Keep away from others, lest you get sick,
Best everybody hide,

But don't you see?
Science has hidden, too,
We're waiting for things that will never come,
Did something drop? Oh, there's the other shoe.

The Truth

Yes, we're in the same storm,
Yes, we're in mismatched boats,
One country sneezes, next door gets Covid,
I've read everything wrote,

No one knows its true place of origin,
Or how it all began,
Though many speak guesses as though it's truth,
That's nothing new for you ess presidents,

Yes, there are many worse off than myself,
Much fewer better fair,
That's less a reflection of what I have,
I'm not a trillionaire,

But someone is,
Thanks to the pandemic,
All you need to do is be rich to start,
Then you'd worry less about who is sick.

Please Move

Folks are getting sloppy,
At least the younger ones,
Those who are old enough to know better,
The 'duh' generation,

The weather's nice, so they all want to meet,
In big crowds at the park,
Congregate in illegally-sized groups,
Because SARS does not compare to a lark,

It makes you wonder what they were doing,
Before the sun came out,
I'm sure their actions were no different,
Behind closed doors, no doubt.

What do we do,
The older and the wise?
It's hard to put somebody in their place,
'Fyou can't get closer than six feet to try?

It's Plane To See

How safe is it to fly?
Not like it used to be,
Forget Pakistan flight eight three oh three,
Though it's a tragedy,

What other activity is like it?
Pills packed with travelers,
Sent into the sky where air is so thin,
It's recirculated from bow to stern,

An incubator for what's ailing you,
Passed on from seat to seat,
After touching ground, what is the impact,
For those the flyers meet?

Special package,
I need not speak aloud,
Who of the next generation will boast,
Seeing the sky from the top side of clouds?

They Can't Flee This

The crisis is looming,
In the refugee camps,
New York, the epicenter of Covid,
Can't even hold a lamp,

Compare its population density,
Ten thousand per square click,
To seventy thousand in the same space,
Already very hard not too get sick,

Add the inefficient hospital care,
Plus shared lavatories,
Mix in no money or true quarantine,
Equals catastrophe.

Well, to be fair,
It was dire already,
Seventy million humans round the globe,
Fleeing their own country's hostility.

True Colors

Do you have true colors?
Would I know which they are?
Would I could strip your paint to your bare skin,
Before we're rid of SARS,

It's only to rhyme the virus is named,
The same the other way,
Do you remember your hue when you thought,
This could only last a couple of days?

Now here we are, quarantined forever,
Extended for a month,
Add to the layers a layer of dust,
It's giving me a hunch,

The paint's not dry,
Before a new one's laid,
The moment you're touched, you are all mixed up,
Find yourself before applying new shades.

You're Out

There might be a vaccine,
If those, you do not fear,
Best guess from Harvard doctor Ashish Jha,
In maybe mid next year,

Then how do you distribute to billions?
Assuming that's the goal,
Basic health care is a human right, right?
It would just be insane to answer, no.

He notes that we are in the third inning,
In this Corona game,
Come the seventh inning stretch, let's all hope,
It don't get called for rain,

We need to win,
Then learn from our mistakes,
J.K., I'm sure we will do no such thing,
Let's hope this is the last for all our sakes.

Is It Time, Yet?

Go sixty thousand years,
Back through our history,
There is nothing found that can tell us much,
Though we're not shy to see,

Ourselves in the bones and few stone tools,
Well, who else could there be,
It's like when someone asks who you've become,
I can only ever ever really be me,

Now here we are in this Covid statis,
Like finally it's time,
To be who we were always meant to be,
Though we are past our prime,

Things haven't changed,
Nor have you changed inside,
The most you can do's what you never did,
As all of your dreams and hopes slowly died.

The Next Revolution

Been fifty thousand years,
Since the revolution,
When Sapiens could suddenly think up,
Made-up fabrications,

This led to innovations beyond genes,
The power to gather,
In groups up to one hundred fifty folks,
Because we could gossip about others,

As time went on, we made corporations,
Evolved from religion,
Millions of people brandishing one cause,
With nuclear fission,

Now here we are,
Back to our genes, again,
Will this lead to a new common belief,
That will evolve beyond Capitalism?

The Grand Reopening

The world's reopening,
To salvage capital,
Tourist spots standing empty as I write,
Won't stand the income fall,

Forgiven rents can't be forgiven long,
Where they even had been,
Drastic reductions in factory shifts,
Are hardly relieved by government schemes,

Kagillionaires are fretfully pacing,
For profits have reduced,
Somehow the archetypes of this f'd world,
Have to be disabused.

Let's try this out,
Everything just costs less,
A dollar's worth, say, one hundred times more,
So we can all get a stress free night's rest.

Don't Even Try

There are many people,
Who go to the U.S.
Running from danger from their own country,
Though the trek's perilous,

They come with nothing they worked for back home,
Situation's that grim,
When they arrive, if they're let in at all,
They're kept in a center for detention,

There, it is cramped and unsanitary,
It's humanely unfit,
Covid is spreading there like a wild fire,
'Cause ICE don't give a shit,

Then they're sent back.
What did they get for it?
A deadly virus for all that they owned,
So much for rewards for those who don't quit.

The End of an Era

People knew beforehand,
But what else they could do,
Other than unload stocks that would suffer,
Then call it, 'just a flu',

Then blame the administration before,
For orchestrating it,
Pass laws making the present rich, richer,
Then make their workers essential, to wit?

I am not talking about everywhere,
Just dying dynasties,
Everyone's waiting for normal to come,
But does anyone see,

That normal's gone,
Until we're used to this,
When the world sees that the greatest vaccine,
Is distanced, respectful togetherness.

What Must I Write

I wish I could write you,
What everyone's feeling,
In just this one poem, in sixteen lines,
Then get on with dealing,

With the stress of all this uncertainty.
Is it really that new,
Or have world events stripped the distractions,
That, up to now, always protected you?

It's trite to say that life could end today,
Or rather, used to be,
Is it we don't want to rebuild it all,
That we shun real'ty?

No, you tell me,
What should I write to you,
That will leave us in peace in troubled times,
To figure out what we most want to do.

Let Us Be Grateful

Let us all be grateful,
For what we did not get,
Assuming you are one of those people,
Who are not in great debt,

Assuming you aren't eighty years old,
Held in a nursing home,
A gay teen with hard parents quarantined,
Or refugee living in a war zone.

A worker with the prospect of no job,
For nothing that she did,
Oh, and I guess let's tack on one more thing,
That you don't have Covid.

For all these things,
Plus more that would not fit,
Let us appreciate what we don't have,
Until we find one day that we have it.

A Pause

What is it that you want?
That's something you must learn,
Before complaining that you don't have it,
That it's something you've earned,

The truly successful all are focused,
On what it is they love,
Whether they wrote it down when they were ten,
Or left their fate to a power above,

Both require faith and an unforgiveness,
For who you really are,
Until you realize that, you'll hurt others,
Existing way too far,

From your true self,
The purest of them all,
What a utopia we would live in,
If the government made that essential.

We Are All Comrades

There's not much more to say,
It's a desert landscape,
Either off on the future's horizon,
Or up and forward my nape,

It's like SARS has brought on communism,
A reverse ambition,
Where those who wanted but could never get,
Now are stunted when they have the freedom,

A comment on individual natures,
Oops, I must be careful,
I'm sure there are many success stories,
Exceptions to the rule.

What does that prove?
We're all better of red?
Maybe that if we're all the way we are,
At least we should all be guaranteed fed.

The Chance is Slipping

It looks like that maybe,
The appetite's not there,
For revolutionizing how we live,
Once we get the all-clear,

People have not reconstituted what,
Is left of their old ways,
Taking what they want, leaving out the rest,
Dismissing notions of the good old days,

The chance to re-evaluate your life,
Is now passing you by,
If you had three months to reflect on life,
What new things would you try?

Oh, but you did,
Instead you just waited,
For things to get back to normal, again,
When your misfortune seemed to be fated.

Stage 2

The honeymoon's over,
They say about Covid,
Just look at reactions to sunny days,
'fthe self-isolated,

The reality of death ain't enough,
Beside companionship,
Hordes of folk rendezvousing in the park,
Sitting and drinking in the face of it,

Anxiety's a diff'rent pandemic,
A side-effect, maybe,
How many deaths are a result of it,
And what is the vaccine?

Reality?
It has always been there,
If you're in it no matter circumstance,
Changes in life should be as light as air.

Have You Changed?

What have you been doing,
With all of that free time?
Have you fretted over all you’ve wasted,
As I’ve mourned over mine?

The thing about the world flipping over,
Is that you haven’t changed,
The best you can hope for’s staying healthy,
To find the new world has been rearranged,

To suit the way you’ve always approached it,
When before you would fail,
Now actions are shooting you to the top,
That once would not avail.

Here is hoping,
That you’re a good person,
That this new world that’s risen from the flames,
Is based on universal inclusion.

Another One

It's another Monday,
Another work week starts,
Another day I don't have to commute,
Another burp and fart,

Another day spent in my pajamas,
Another liquid lunch,
Another level in this gaming app,
Hoping to win before the time card's punched,

Another news report about Covid,
Another month added,
Another battle with anxiety,
'bout what your old dad did.

Another thought,
Before Tuesday arrives,
Another day, despite challenges,
That you have faced, and yet you still survive.

The New Weird

Even a pandemic,
Couldn't keep me from you,
Except so far as I have to stay home,
Just like you have to, too,

Thank god this thing cannot last forever,
Or that's what people see,
Who look around with incredulity,
Without a virology Ph.D.

Yet still, we will all learn to live with this,
Plus the others to come,
The new normal can't be weirder than what,
Was just before this one,

So take my hand,
Tell me, how does that feel?
I have to tell you after all these months,
It would be hard to describe it as real.

Brave Old World

Now the fear is growing,
As the risks now subside,
There is security within limbo,
When all must stay inside,

But soon we will be opening the blinds,
Wipe the sleep from our eyes,
Can you really imagine returning,
To your preglobal covid-demic lives?

You may answer categoric'lly, "yes!
"This is no life at all,
"Without a job to go to everyday,
"What can a life be called?"

Well, uhm, just life,
Like what you've been doing,
Assuming you're not one of the many,
Who the economy has left starving.

Start Thinking

Now is the time for hope,
For you have nothing else,
Sure, tons of folk are predicting what's next,
They're thinking of themselves,

Of where they'll be when this is all over,
Hoping ahead of you,
I know, this all sounds so pessimistic,
So please, keep continuing what you do,

Fret over each day's new dire piece of news,
That's stunting all your thoughts,
Be completely unprepared when you're told,
"Your paying job's now not."

It's a new world,
Arrange the fallen shards,
That once formed everything you believed,
Made up your only ever hand of cards.

What's Next?

If you're going to make it,
When this is all over,
When the realities of the new world,
Are finally overt,

When people who still have money to spend,
Can't wait to do just that,
You need to anticipate what they'll want,
So when they look for it, you can react,

Maybe you invent the virtual hug,
Or distancing office,
The cure for having spent too long alone,
With [you fill in the rest].

What will you want,
Once you've freedom, again?
Or are you thinking this is freedom now,
Hoping this pause in life will never end?

Sleepless Nights

Was it always like this,
Fragile and capricious?
One day you see your life for miles and miles,
Then the next day, well, this.

You hear a lot about the storm we're in,
Floating upon the sea,
That, still, we all are in different boats,
But do you think of anyone but me?

Of course you do, for we all have loved ones,
Both close and far away,
If you don't see the point I'm getting at,
I'll try another way,

We are all doomed!
P'haps that's not right, either :)
Patience isn't about waiting it out,
It's knowing one day is already here.

Happy Belated David Hume

Yesterday's your birthday,
But what could we have done?
Certainly nothing like we used to do,
Before the contagion,

Deprived of all the pomp and circumstance,
It was time to reflect,
On all of the things that you used to say,
About perception and cause and effect,

So what would you say about today's plight,
That would be of some use?
Utilitarianism could help,
Uncook this burning goose.

So let's all help,
To the maximum rate,
The most assistance to the most people,
Unencumbered by prejudice or hate.

Are You Ready For The End?

This will all be over,
So, I'll enjoy this time,
Until the world returns to what it was,
I'm just reading your mind,

But what if things actually don't change,
If this is what you've got?
Are there others preparing for that chance,
While you are behaving like it is not?

Or is it you're keeping your position,
You've never wanted much,
You were in the middle when this started,
You aren't in a rush,

To change your ways,
Sure and steady's your race,
Just because the world's diff'rent, you are not,
Maybe the new one will be just your pace.

Dr. Trump

The first drug he prescribed,
Does naught anyone's seen,
I thought at first he might have a stock in,
Hydroxychloroquine,

But then he heard Covid does not do well,
When UV light's present,
So suggested light therapy could work,
With an injection of disinfectant.

Really, he's spewing what comes to his mind,
If that's what's in his head,
"What do you have to lose?", president Trump?
Well, we could end up dead,

With poor treatment,
Which is what you suggest,
If what you say influenced nobody,
How much better we'd be's most people's guess.

Now What?

It's all winding down now,
You can throw off your mask!
Hug the next person you see on the street,
Don't e'en bother to ask,

Share drinks with friends you've not seen for so long,
Tell me, does that feel weird?
Who knows what virus there's that we don't know,
Plus, I was joking that Sars 2 is cleared,

The way we live may never be the same,
Do we even want that?
Even from my privileged perspective,
We should now change our act.

There's always room,
To improve who we are,
Forget material prosperity,
That sets an extremely low moral bar.

Try Getting Out

Take a silent moment,
Focus on your breathing,
If you have a thought, say hello to it,
Then thank it for leaving,

Continue until your whole world is black,
Blacker than it is now,
Stay in that place as long as you're able,
Away from the seclusion or the rows,

Away from the new harsh realities,
Of your true existence,
The place where everybody finds themselves,
When they abandon sense,

Your dream's portals,
To life experience,
Maybe when you return things will have changed,
Perhaps you won't see all this as a mess.

Covid Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day,
I will not drive my car,
Instead, I will stay all day in my home,
Or not venture too far,

I'll not video chat with anyone,
So, no one I will see,
I'll wear the same clothes I wore yesterday,
That I've been wearing for the last twelve weeks,

I'll turn off the tap when washing my hands,
So, about fifteen times,
I'd also bring my own bags to the store,
But they will not use mine.

I'll save paper,
Since I can't buy any,
I've printed the same side so many times,
I now use white ink to read anything.

Just Four Of Them

Of course there were problems,
Before all this began,
People living from paycheck to paycheck,
Well, that's this age's sham,

There were people who had dangerous lives,
Spouses who drank and punched,
But, at least they weren't home all the time,
Now they are angry and they're home a bunch,

Others decided to take big chances,
To try to get ahead,
Perhaps living safely years before that,
Feeling better off dead,

Then there are those,
Who took too long for risk,
Change foisted on them now, not on their terms,
Just four tragedies to come out of this.

Four Hundred and Twenty Deep Breaths

Just don't think about it,
Until the collapse comes,
At least you can live until you cannot,
Like a true champion,

Like someone with a job to go to, still,
Paid one hundred per cent,
Whose loved ones can go out when they want to,
With no fear of a global pandemic,

Someone who's fairly sure of the future,
With no anxiety,
That the country to the south will decide,
To take our secur'ty,

You have for now,
Oh God, just ignore it,
Forget everything you read before this,
It's four-twenty, baby! Focus on it.

What Are You Saying?

What is that old saying?
Ubiquitous out west,
Like, "Another day, another dollar,"
Is that what you had guessed?

I realize now, it could go either way,
When once it seemed so clear,
That dollar could be earned or could be lost,
Depending on the pandemic that year.

Are all sayings some kind of inside joke,
For peasants to be taught?
A bird in the hand's worth two in the bush,
But those ain't worth a lot.

Come on, I kid,
That's sedition, you bet,
The elite prefer to be more overt,
Another day older, deeper in debt.

The Origins

Here is what experts say,
'bout the start of SARS 2,
It did not originate in a lab,
Then brought home by the crew,

Indeed, it was contracted through a bat,
As, too, are millions more,
Diseases you will never hear about,
For they're not ones vaccines are needed for,

It probably came from a wet market,
Perchance, not bat-eating,
Animal diseases start many ways,
By them and folk meeting,

Which happens more,
As humans spread and spread,
A bat could have peed on somebody's food,
They go to market, now thousands are dead.

Is The Time Now?

There're so many people,
Who no longer have jobs,
Experts with skills they have worked so hard on,
This pandemic can't rob,

Like professional athletes without teams,
Oh, there are those as well,
Now's the time, if you have the idea,
To make a company that would excel,

To gather the energetic and smart,
For a noble pursuit,
A venture for those who need a new start,
No virus can refute.

You say, too soon?
Let life first start again?
Of course, assuming that the life you had,
Was built upon an ideal foundation.

Just Ignore This

Holy mother fucker,
Did I say that out loud?
We all need to yell the odd expletive,
Ev-ery then and now,

History is not unfamiliar with,
Catastrophic declines,
I didn't live through the Great Depression,
But it left millions of workers behind,

It was real, and the debate still goes on,
How it even began,
Of all the consequences of Covid,
It could happen again.

Is that too harsh?
Let's not think about it,
It's one of the reasons banks get bailed out,
While the rest of us must wallow in debt.

A Little Comfort

Not to get too morose,
But we all have our days,
When no other outcome's conceivable,
That's not filled with dismay,

The future's tenuous the best of times,
All we have to soothe us,
Is an illusion of control o'er fate,
While knowledge of what's to come's dubious,

What's different now is we're facing the truth,
The naked emperor,
Bereft of distractions from who we are,
What is all of this for?

Forget Covid,
It has always been there,
The chance that your world could be upended,
All you have built vanished into thin air.

Reality Check

Those moments fear returns,
Thinking you'll lose it all,
Not enjoying this new reality,
Prophesying the fall,

Its imminence a foregone conclusion,
Maybe it's trite to say,
But no matter what's happening 'round you,
Your destruction could happen any day,

All you can ever do is do your best,
While hoping for the same,
Of course some circumstances are preferred,
I'm not friggin' insane,

Just hope to help,
The only way I know,
Short of bustling out in this brave new world,
I am too paralyzed by fear to go.

When This Is Done

Maybe it's not alright,
Things won't turn out okay,
Government policies fail to keep,
Destitution at bay,

This economic shock will put us down,
We will not recover,
From the ashes of this society,
We'll have to build some kind new structure,

But who will rise to decide what that is,
Before the elite do,
Those with power from this broken machine,
Who used to oppress you?

Will it be you?
Please try for improvements,
Keep what is good and only discard bad,
Save people's rights and the environment.

The Real You

Do the days feel longer?
You may have had enough,
Is time flying by faster than ever?
You may have had enough,

Will you feel cheated if it all ends now,
For you expected more,
Or will you have come out the worse for wear,
Having lost job, loved ones or a front door?

Have you been inside an epicenter,
Of the contagion,
Or observing, untouched, from the outside,
Hoping it don't come in?

What have you been,
During this force majeure?
If nothing else you will learn who you are,
You have to be yourself, 'til there's a cure.

In Retrospect

Governments knew sooner,
Than when actions were made,
Knowledgeable bodies warned pandemic,
That plans now must be laid,

We had the experience of SARS 1,
I blame short memories,
We all flew and shook hands willy-nilly,
While it hovered far away overseas,

Now we blame WHO for not yelling out loud,
Hey, it's a pandemic,
As if they wouldn't have been laughed of stage,
By the body pol'tic,

In fact, they were,
Vis a vis the U.S.,
Truth be told, there's still laughter in the halls,
Of the mansions of the country-club set.

Get Used To It

This new reality,
Isn't new, anymore,
We're past the curiosity of it,
We're over being bored,

Self-improvement's become annoying,
Runners shunned like the plague,
The only thing we do more than sleep now,
Is line up for things we can barely pay,

We want to interact with friends in flesh,
Not on a TV screen,
We don't want to wash our windows again,
For what there's to be seen,

Just set us free,
Wait, I know that can't be,
It might be that we have to change our minds,
To adjust to this old reality.

Analysing From One Centre

Maybe you have travelled,
Or, maybe you've traveled,
Between two places with different laws,
For when viruses kill,

You might expect your neighbour to help you,
If you were out of food,
But perhaps your neighbor stockpiled his own,
But says if he had some to give, he would,

You might take offence when the rules are shirked,
Of social distancing,
Whereas, in defense of freedom of self,
Others might go dancing,

It's a thin line,
That separates the two,
One holds dialogue twixt people and gov,
While in the other dialog's eschewed,

In The Face Of Adversity

We'll never be the same,
Not that we ever are,
Each day we must face diverse challenges,
That strips one more cover,

From the person that's ultimately you,
Though you are never reached,
Whether dealing with the trauma of death,
Or a man who will never be impeached,

You might lose your job due to pandemic,
You may run out of milk,
Someone might tell you that you're horrible,
This all proclaims your ilk,

Embrace challenge,
What else could living be?
When else are you called to reveal yourself?
I guarantee you will like what you see.

To The Healers

It's just reality,
For everyone you see,
You cross the street to avoid walking close,
It's not effrontery,

You refuse to visit your relatives,
Or have friends come over,
Peak out the curtains if the doorbell rings,
Which rarely happens in this brave new world,

Unspoken awareness of what we know,
No need to spew it out,
We wear masks that we'd eschewed in the past,
We made ourselves, no doubt.

Still people die,
Some see it everyday,
Up close, in the most contagious setting,
In battle, what courage humans display,

Second Chances

This is when things get sad,
If they're not already,
The euphoria of the shock has waned,
Now it's reality,

All the uncertainty of what's to come,
Not knowing when it will,
After all the weeks of self improvement,
You have to acknowledge you're yourself, still.

You didn't do it before, so why think,
You will do it this time?
It's like you've finally got your second chance,
To blame, complain and whine,

But there is more,
The world is on the brink,
P'haps you'll find yourself a different one,
Much more suited to the way that you think.

If This Teaches Us Anything

Could this be the starting,
Of a new kind of life,
One based, not on our perceived differences,
Eliminating strife,

One where we recognize humanity,
As something we all share,
Acknowledging, yes, that many e'er do,
Who sacrifice a better life to care,

But economics doesn't reward that,
Only one's own desires,
What I'm suggesting is that currency,
Would value love higher?

Don't say it does,
Or it would equal pow'r,
If what we're suffering now proves at all,
Is that money for money's sake is dour.

What's Next

Uh oh, what did Trump say?
Knee jerk approach, again,
First the Global Health Security Team,
Was nixed by John Bolton,

Then nary two years later, what happens?
Well, don't have to tell you,
Though maybe someone should have convinced Trump,
Weeks ago, that this is not just a flu,

Now in a flail and the US scrambling,
With no GHST,
He tells 3M, "no masks to Canada."
He say, 'military'?

Well, not quite yet,
They're mostly all abroad,
He will next abandon his foreign "plans",
For the shiny thing makes him feels like God.

Oxford Bags

Groceries cost more, now,
People are making less,
Many have lost their jobs all together,
An uncleanable mess,

Canadians were already in debt,
It is like Oxford Bags,
That book anticipated that the world,
Would have to one day eliminate cash,

Just stamp value on individuals,
Depending what they do,
No one starves, still no one gets farther than,
How they have labelled you.

But before that,
There'll be a lot of pain,
Our children, not knowing what it was like,
Like us, will only have cause to complain.

Taking It Down

I've been doing Qi Gong,
I thought it was Tai Chi,
You would think that all this time to myself,
I could know what I mean,

The one is meant to cure specific ails,
Not the one going round,
The other keeps you healthy in and out,
Body balanced and your mind calm and sound,

This, more than Covid, has toppled my world,
It's under my control!
Next I will find I've been walking backwards,
Or what is clean is coal.

Sounds trite, I know,
It's all I've got left for,
Maybe tomorrow I can consider,
The continued felling of life, once more.