Black Friday Madness

At five a.m. the doors swing open.

The throng of shoppers lined up at the store

Pushes and shoves and jabs and elbows

Its aggressive way through the wide-open door.

Once inside, the crowd scatters

This way, that way, in chaotic motion.

The store clerks gasp, feeling like islands

Surrounded by a raging ocean.

"Oh, no you don’t!" one woman shouts

At another woman clutching a box

Containing the last flat-screen TV.

"Hands off; it's mine!" the other one squawks.

A mad tug-o'-war ensues

As the two women grapple to claim what's theirs.

An onlooker who is knocked down in the skirmish

Shrieks, "What a sorry state of affairs!"

All through the store, items are flying.

The store resembles the scene of a battle,

OR, perhaps, a giant herd

Of loud, thundering, angry cattle.

A man stops to pick up something

He dropped--perfume, a gift for his wife--

And is trampled by the surge of shoppers.

The poor guy nearly loses his life.

One bold shopper with her canister of pepper spray

Threatens to douse the belligerent crowd

Until she is tackled by security guards

And is escorted away, cursing out loud.

Announcements blare from the loudspeakers:

"Shoppers' special on aisle three."

Suddenly, the rivers of shoppers change course

As the curious hope to get something free.

In the background, Christmas carols playing

The hopeful messages of joy and peace

Are drowned out by the ear-piercing din

That sounds like the honking of thousands of geese.

"I want my mommy," a whiny child cries.

"What do you want for Christmas: a dolly?"

Asks Santa, losing his last bit of patience

And doing his best to try to act jolly.

The chaos never ceases to wane

As the shoppers vie for the best shopping deals.

One man rushing to grab the last smart phone

Slips and falls head over heels

And slides into an obese grandma,

Sending her sprawling into some shelves

Of decorations, all of which go flying.

The injured lie covered with reindeer and elves.

Endless lines at the registers await

The exhausted shoppers. You're closer. Hurrah!

The woman in front of you then needs a price check.

No, that can't be! That's the last straw!

Another day of Black Friday madness.

Would that it could be over! But no.

You've barely started; that's store number one.

You have four more stores to go!

(11-30-14) By Bob B

Identity Crisis?

Are we facing an identity crisis?

America has some soul-searching to do.

Our land of diversity must reexamine

Itself from multiple points of view.

Recent protests in Ferguson, Missouri,

And across our vast country all show

That ignoring the needs of the people creates

A powder keg that eventually will blow.

The unrest is not about one incident:

A policeman's shooting of Michael Brown.

We must examine the larger picture

To see what it is that's weighing us down.

Too often we allow problems to fester

Instead of lightening the heavy load

By addressing important matters directly

Before they dangerously explode.

Minimizing issues of human rights

Won't make problems disappear.

Injustice and inequality have continued

To plague our country year after year.

Are we so caught up in our little lives,

Limited by rumors and petty complaints,

That we're unable to hear the cries

Of those who are burdened by society's constraints?

Are we isolated in our busy worlds,

Seeing but NOT paying attention

Because of indifference? Our lack of caring

Leads to greater misapprehension.

Perpetuating myths, applying labels,

And prejudging others on each person's part

Will keep our country from moving forward.

Efforts to change must come from the heart.

A hardy, earnest, honest dialogue

With innovative suggestions for change

And our desire to work together

Should not be completely out of our range.

The road to freedom has potholes and bends;

Lest moving forward get out of control,

The road must be kept in good repair

And we MUST keep our eyes on our goal.

When we ask ourselves who we are,

What is the answer? You make the call.

Are we a nation with privileges for some,

Or a nation with liberty and justice for all?

By Bob B (11-28-14)

Substance and Style (A Song)

Substance and style!

Please give me

Substance and style.

Where would we be without

Substance and style?

What a great goal!

It's something that I'll

Strive to achieve--

I hope without guile.

I'll even walk

That extra mile

For a balance of substance and style!

Substance without style

Falls flat on the spot.

It's colorless and lifeless,

And it happens a lot.

You can observe it

In all types of art.

The critics just love

To tear it apart.

Substance without style

Numbs the senses;

It's one of art's

Major offenses.

It's plodding, vapid,

Shoddy and cheap.

AND what's more,

It puts you to sleep.

(Refrain)

Substance and style….

Style without substance

Suggests that there's flair,

But since there's no substance,

There's not much else there.

It's sequins and fluff--

A simple façade.

Its raison d'être

Is just to defraud.

Style without substance

Bores us as well.

Pretentious and phony,

It sounds the death knell.

Artists beware:

Stay out of the trap.

And don't come crying

If your work is crap.

(Refrain)

Substance and style….

Substance and style,

When balanced correctly

With grace and finesse

And circumspectly,

Will give your creation

The oomph it should need

To capture your audience.

Therefore, take heed.

Substance and style

Should stimulate the brain,

Titillate the senses,

And, yes, entertain.

Let's hope we encounter

At least once in a while

A work that has

Substance and style!

(Refrain)

Substance and style….

By Bob B (11-24-14)

It's About Time

It's about time someone took action

On comprehensive immigration reform.

The President made an executive decision,

And, oh, my goodness: Look at the storm!

Having neglected immigration issues

For a number of years--while they had their chance--

The do-nothing legislators failed to act

And then dared the President to take a stance.

"King Obama," some Republicans say,

"Has torn asunder the Constitution."

The "tyrant," they add, "through imperial actions"

Will incite anarchy and revolution.

The President has "poisoned the well,"

Some critics say, which sticks in my craw.

The politicians should get off their duffs

And work together to pass a law.

But no, they'd rather complain and blame,

Attack, accuse, spread ill-will,

And threaten legal action or impeachment--

Everything BUT work on a bill.

Some of the Republican lawmakers are behaving

NOT unpredictably or mysteriously.

It’s incredible that they don’t seem to care

Whether the people take them seriously.

The focus is keeping families together

And assuaging fears of deportation

Of many undocumented immigrants

Who experience daily intimidation.

I agree that our system is broken

And has been broken for many years.

We need a smart and humane solution:

Not one based on bigotry and fears.

The initial step in immigration reform

Leaves the lawmakers now with a task:

Reasonable laws and a path to citizenship.

Would that be too much for us to ask?

By Bob B (11-21-14)

A Beginning Is Often an Ending

A beginning is often an ending;

An ending is often a beginning.

Sometimes winning is losing;

Sometimes losing is winning.

Bad can come out of good;

Good can come out of bad.

Something that makes one happy

Might make someone else sad.

Though giving is better than receiving,

Sometimes receiving is giving.

Living leads to death;

Death contributes to living.

Bliss to some is ignorance;

Ignorance to some is bliss.

To one a miss is a hit;

To another a hit is a miss.

Sometimes we laugh when we cry;

Sometimes we cry when we laugh.

A bold move to you,
To me might be a gaffe.

A lie can sound like the truth;

The truth can sound like a lie;

Some people seem very distant,

Even though they're nearby.

You have to know to ask,

And you have to ask to know.

We need the earth, yes?

Does it need us? No!

By Bob B (11-19-14)

Heaven's Catch 22

Enjoying the afternoon paper,

A man sat in the park.

He hoped to finish reading the news

Long before it grew dark.

A stranger holding a Bible

Broke the man's concentration

By asking, "Sir, are you concerned

About HEAVEN and your salvation?"

The man folded his paper

And calmly said, "I'll say this:

Going to heaven depends on with whom

I'm sharing the eternal bliss.

"Will Pat Robertson be there?

And Michele Bachmann, too?

I suppose that includes Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan."

The stranger said, "Hope so; don't you?"

"What about Rick Santorum,

Wayne La Pierre with his gun,

Palin, Boehner, Hannity, and Gohmert?"

"Wouldn't THAT," asked the stranger, "be fun?"

"Will the Koch brothers be there?

Fred Phelps and also Karl Rove?

Lindsey Graham and Cheney and Falwell?"

"You bet," said the stranger, "by Jove."

"If all of those people are going there,

And Rush Limbaugh shows up there as well,

That isn’t MY idea of paradise;

Give me a ticket to hell."

By Bob B (11-18-14)

The Things I Should Have Said

The things I should have said in the past,

I didn't know how to say.

The things I want to say right now,

Constantly eat away

At inculcated inhibitions, which

Stifle apt expression

Out of the fear of uttering

A possible indiscretion.

The things I couldn't see in the past

I "see" much better now,

Such as the deep and powerful connections

Of the where and why and how.

Although there is a current diminishing

Of youthful visual acuity,

One doesn't need perfect vision

To penetrate ambiguity.

The things my ears could hear in the past

No longer sound the same.

Listening with the ears of experience

Completely changes the game.

To see with the ears and to hear with the eyes--

What a challenging perspective!--

Instead of being stuck in a pattern

That's sadly ineffective.

The things I knew so well in the past

I know right now even better.

Strict adherence to worn-out ideas

Proves to be a fetter.

If knowing is truly becoming, that means

The immeasurable range of our knowing

Is tied to our experiences and is

A direct result of growing.

George Bernard Shaw said youth

Is wasted on the young.

But maybe it's better for us to consider

Our youth as merely a rung

On the amazing ladder of life that we

Haven't ascended for naught.

We're lucky we've made it as far as we have;

The alternative's an unpleasant thought.

Knowing what I know and seeing what I see,

I'm forced to speak my mind,

Lest my silence be misconstrued

As agreement, which I find

Would contradict what I have learned

And what experience reveals.

Moreover, I can't justify

Abandoning my ideals.

(11-16-14) By Bob B

Snowden: Hero or Traitor?

Some consider Edward Snowden

A hero; some a traitor.

Some feel that he loves his country;

Some call him a hater.

Let's admit: One thing he did

Was open up our eyes

To infringements of our rights to privacy,

To intrusions and to lies.

Our rights are being redefined

In ways that circumvent

The Constitution, Snowden says,

And without the people's consent.

Snowden feels that the government must

Justify any intrusion

Into our rights. Otherwise,

Our liberty's merely an illusion.

If we say, "I've got nothing to hide,"

He equates that to our saying,

"MY rights do not matter,"

And it's hopelessness that we're conveying.

Has any REAL damage been caused

By Snowden's revelation

Of NSA surveillance tactics

That justifies criminalization?

He asks: Is the government punishing dissent--

Which it has done before--

Or pursuing an actual threat to the nation?

That's something we have to explore.

Or could it be that the NSA

Is feeling so distraught,

NOT because Snowden's a threat,

But merely because it got caught?

Meanwhile, Snowden's in exile in Russia--

Not his place of choice--

Hoping that policies protecting our rights

Could give him cause to rejoice.

By Bob B (11-11-14)

Dying with Dignity

When life's going well and our health is good,

We've got the drive and means to go far,

And we seem to have the world by the tail,

Do we appreciate how lucky we are?

My thoughts are on a particular person:

Brittany Maynard--a daughter, a wife--

Young, vivacious, compassionate, caring,

Full of dreams, at the prime of her life,

Until she found she had brain cancer--

Glioblastoma--an aggressive assault--

Which turned Brittany's life upside down

And brought her dreams to a sudden halt.

Given six more months to live,

She pondered her options and moved to a state

Where she could decide to die with dignity

Before it ended up being too late.

Terminally ill Oregon residents

Who are mentally competent can make use

Of the Death with Dignity Act of Oregon.

Established safeguards prevent its abuse.

Verbal, cognitive, and motor loss,

Possible morphine-resistant pain,

Major changes in personality,

Paralyzing seizures--hard to contain--

Were what Brittany had to look forward to.

Such an existence, so grim and so bleak,

Was not what she wanted her family to experience:

Her constant suffering, week after week.

In her last months, Brittany had traveled.

She'd shared her feelings; for example, she'd say

It's important to do what's important to us.

In other words, we should seize the day.

To her family in November 2014

Brittany said her final good-byes

And peacefully went on the final journey--

The one that transcends both the earth and the skies.

I wouldn't wait around for a miracle

If I had to deal with what Brittany went through:

Inoperable brain cancer!

I'd hightail it to Oregon, too.

(11-8-14) By Bob B

The Ass and Its Shadow*

A traveler needing help decided

It would be handy to rent an ass.

He found someone and made a deal.

Observe what then came to pass:

The owner of the ass followed behind

To drive the animal along on its way.

A few hours later the traveler and owner

Decided to rest; it was a hot day.

The traveler spied the ass's shadow,

Which was the coolest place he could find.

"Oh, no you don't," the owner said.

"That is MY spot, if you don't mind."

"Since," said the traveler, "I'm renting the animal,

"The shadow belongs to me as well."

"You're renting the ass--NOT its shadow!"

Exclaimed the owner. "You go to hell!"

Ooh, the argument grew tense and heated

And eventually led to shoving and blows.

Instead of seeking a compromise,

The two men acted like a couple of schmoes.

Suddenly, it dawned upon the men:

The ass was gone; it had run away.

The fight continued; each man said

The other one would have to pay.

What is the moral of the story?

If you are wise, surely you’ll wish you

Could focus less on the minor "shadow"

And more on the real, essential issue.

Or…

When we consider what is important,

There is a lesson for the masses:

You will likely be left in the lurch

If you place too much trust in asses.

By Bob B (11-6-14)

*An Aesop tale retold here in verse

Pharmaceutical Phantasyland

Are you looking for a solution

To all those aches and pains that ail you?

During a night of TV viewing

You'll find drugs that should not fail you.

Linzess might stop your belly pain

Or discomfort from your constipation.

(Just be sure to open a window

To provide some needed ventilation.)

Feeling nerve pain? Then try Lyrica--

Unless you suffer from arthritis.

If that's the case you need Humira.

But that won't help your laryngitis.

Some ads say Abilify

Will help you if you have depression.

But watch out if you start displaying

Bizarre, unexplained aggression.

If atrial fibrillation has you

Feeling somewhat out of sorts,

Maybe Eliquis will help you.

Be careful, though, when playing sports.

Feeling dry eye? There's Restasis.

Muscle ache? Then try Aleve.

But they won't help with COPD;

To think so would be so naïve.

For that you'll need some Symbicort.

But what if you have (gulp!) E-D?

Or B-P-H? Then there's Cialis;

But don't expect a guarantee.

For type 2 diabetes there is

Farxiga--just one a day.

But that does NOT mean you can hit

The pastry shop and eat away.

For if you do you'll need some Nexium--

Yes, that little purple pill--

For acid reflex isn't fun,

And Zantac might not fit the bill.

If menopausal hot flashes

Are totally driving you insane,

Brisdelle should give you relief,

But do not take it with champagne.

With all these drugs we can't go wrong.

For everything there is a cure

Or maybe relief from nagging symptoms;

But read the label to be sure.

Because of possible side effects

Of all the drugs that you might be taking,

Be sure that you have considered the risks

And done some careful decision making.

Yep, weighing all your options

Might really be worth your while,

Especially if you tend to be

An avid pharmaceutophile.

Watch for rashes, swelling, blood clots,

Gas, nausea, lung infections,

Diarrhea, stomach pains,

Four-hour plus erections,

Heart failure, thoughts of suicide,

Impaired judgment, shortness of breath,

Change in moods, low blood pressure,

Loss of consciousness, coma, or death.

By Bob B (11-1-14)