January 20, 2025: National Day of Mourning

Oh, how sad! Too many voters

Refused to listen to the warning.

Because of that, this day this year

Should be a national day of mourning.

 

We mourn the loss of what we know

Has truly made our country great,

For now we have a person in charge

Who wrote the playbook on how to hate.

 

A whiny child who cannot handle

Criticism. THAT is he.

If you want to work for him,

You MUST declare your loyalty.

 

He's no less vicious, no less selfish,

No less shameless, no less crass.

He loves how Zuckerberg, Bezos, Musk,

And others line up to kiss his ass.

 

He says he stands for unity.

Do people really think he has changed?

His speech and actions show that he

Is no less divisive, no less deranged.

 

Watch as Trumplicans fall in line

And cave in to his ruthless threats

As he lays out his disastrous agenda,

Vindictive and vengeful, with no regrets.

 

Amazingly, there are voters

Who think the man was heaven sent!

A pathological liar and felon

Should not be our president!

 

And so we grieve for America.

What will it take to ease our fears?

What will it take for hope to return?

How will we get through these next four years?

-by Bob B (1-20-25)

Unafraid

Why do many religious folks

Tend to get their feathers ruffled

If people say they are atheists?

Why should atheists have to be muffled?

 

Atheists are often considered

The devil incarnate or evil unveiled.

They are attacked, their lives are threatened,

They're ostracized and even jailed--

 

Done in the "name of God," of course.

Oh, the reasons that people give

In countries all over the world where people

Refuse to practice "live and let live"!

 

Do we need a god to tell us

How to live or how to behave?

If I blindly follow dogma,

Don't I become religion's slave?

 

Constantly seeking, questioning,

Observing, expressing healthy doubt,

Exploring the many facets of life,

Discovering what life's about,

 

And learning how to sift through all

The knowledge that we humans have gained

Will help us put more focus on

Issues that can be explained.

 

Some things, yes, are inexplicable,

Mystifying, beyond our knowing.

A question we must ask ourselves

Should always be "Am I still growing?"

 

There ARE religious people who aren't

Threatened by what others believe.

Secure in their beliefs, they aren't

Fearful, brain-washed, and naïve.

 

They do not judge nonbelievers

And tell them they are going to hell.

Tempering their beliefs with love

Is what they do so very well.

 

And then there are the ones who feel

Compelled to express their condemnation.

They need to mind their OWN business

And worry about their OWN salvation.

 

If you as a nonbeliever are asked

Your position, a way to convey it

Is merely "I'm an atheist

And I am not afraid to say it."

-by Bob B (1-17-25)

One of Many Ironies

We read that Jesus was a Jew--

A Palestinian Jew.

He was a poor itinerant preacher

And far from well-to-do.

 

A Jewish god was thus, of course,

The one to whom he prayed.

Not all, but many Jewish laws

Were ones that he obeyed.

 

He walked around with twelve disciples--

Also Jewish men--

Who, I guess, were probably

Considered "born again."

 

The twelve disciples felt he was

The Jewish Messiah, though he

Wasn't exactly what most Jews

Thought the Messiah would be.

 

To them the Messiah would be a hero

Whose praises they would sing

For being both a peacemaker AND

A powerful, conquering king.

 

The Jewish Messiah was going to bring

Justice to the land.

The strong Jewish nation would then

Have the upper hand.

 

They thought that he'd restore the nation

To its former glory.

They needed a powerful leader who

Would fit in with their story.

 

How could Jesus be their Messiah--

A man so scorned and rejected?

He COULDN’T have been the Anointed One

Whom they had expected.

 

It really does seem quite ironic

And also very odd

How a rejected Jewish Messiah

Became a Christian god.

-by Bob B (1-12-25)

Where Lies and Misinformation Abound

Donald Trump and Elon Musk--

And this, of course, is no surprise--

Continue to spread misinformation

And hope that we believe their lies.

 

Now it's about the devastating

Fires raging through L.A.

We are hearing attacks and blame

From Trump and his new protégé.

 

Musk is blaming the Dems and "wokeness"

And thus is throwing fuel on the flames;

Trump is stupidly misleading fans

By making false, inaccurate claims.

 

The two men rely on a place

Where lies and misinformation abound:

The Internet--now a perfect

Conspiracy theory breeding ground.

 

Fact-checking is crucial now

More than ever as Trump distracts

The public with his verbal garbage

And Musk with all his alternate "facts."

-by Bob B (1-10-25)

Painting January 6, 2021

How can we ignore what happened

On THIS dark day four years ago?

Let us paint it as though it were

Depicted in the style of Van Gogh:

 

The painting must show emotional depth

To clearly demonstrate its sadness.

The brush strokes, wide and wild,

Should display the utter madness.

 

To show the anger--not love--apply

Thick and intense globs of red,

Which will also represent

Brutality and blood that was shed.

 

Apply bright streaks of yellow color

To focus on the cowardly thugs--

There as insurrectionists

And NOT there to pass out hugs.

 

The Capitol should be depicted

From different angles. That represents

All the absurd conspiracy theories

Believed by all the malcontents.

 

The paint? Of course, make sure it's thick

To show the thickness of the lies

That Trump and his supporters have told

To make us NOT believe our eyes.

 

Swirling strokes should indicate

A stark but vivid intensity

Of violence, for which Trump's mobs

Have a scary propensity.

 

The composition should guide the viewers'

Eyes to see the overall truth--

And NOT to be taken in by those

With tactics questionable and uncouth.

 

Now stand back; observe our painting.

We must never ever let

The horrors of that day become

A bagatelle that we forget.

-by Bob B (1-6-25)

Now I Lay Me Down...

An odd prayer to say at bedtime--

Especially for the children's sake--

Is one that has them saying each night

"If I should die before I wake."

 

“Die before I wake”? Oh, no!

That is not a comforting thought--

That all my efforts to live and breathe

This very night could come to naught?

 

So when the kiddies say the prayer

"Now I lay me down to sleep…,"

Just imagine all the thoughts

That into little heads might creep:

 

Thoughts rekindling many fears--

Of ghouls sucking out their breath,

Of monsters crawling out of the closet,

Of countless things that might cause death.

 

And after that, while the children's

Imaginations are on a roll,

They think that from a distant place

A "lord" is going to take their soul.

 

How can that be comforting?

Wouldn't something life-affirming

Be much more appropriate

And not have little bed goers squirming?

 

Something giving them joy and hope,

Something that will help them thrive

And learn to appreciate the world

And thus feel lucky to be alive?

 

Are little ones still saying that prayer?

Are there parents who still demand it?

I guess that one would have to be

A praying sort to understand it.

 

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I hope I won't be counting sheep.

Let's ALL have pleasant dreams instead,

And wake up glad that we aren't dead.

-by Bob B (12-31-24)