Dangerous Denial

Denial gets you nowhere.

When there's a problem, face it.

If it's a major challenge,

Open your mind and embrace it.

The trouble is a problem

Won't go away on its own.

Don't wait until

The flower is overblown.

If a situation

Affects our national security,

Can a solution wait

For some remote futurity?

Bury your head in the sand

If your mind is closed.

But if you do, remember:

Your rear will be exposed.

How to solve a problem

When our leaders drub

Twaddle into our heads?

Ah, that's the rub!

How to get to the bottom

Of what is happening around us

Is problematic when

Efforts are made to confound us.

What is clear to some,

To others is quite blurry.

Suspicions arise when something

Is covered up in a scurry.

To know or not to know?

Is that the question that taunts us?

Why didn't we stop it?

Will be the question that haunts us.

(3-30-17) By Bob B

DOA

The recent Trumpcare plan encountered

Limited chances for survival.

It hacked away at Obamacare

And found itself dead on arrival.

The plan was altered to have more appeal

To the House Freedom Caucus. Why?

The House Freedom Caucus supports

The freedom to get sick and die.

Cutting ten essential services°

Made the proposed plan a sham

By turning it into a possible

Nightmarish insurance scam.

Praise to the members of Congress who

For the RIGHT reasons boldly decried

The plan proposed by Paul Ryan--

A plan laced with cyanide.

Affordable health care for all

Should be our principal goal.

Profit-making insurance companies

Shouldn't be getting out of control.

Trump says, "Let's just watch

Obamacare keep imploding,"

As saboteurs continue to take

Shots at the plan and keep reloading.

Republican leaders don't really want

To fix what we have, to tweak or massage it;

They want to see Obamacare fail

By letting companies sabotage it.

People first, then money.

Let's keep our priorities straight

And not let cold avarice thrive

While health and compassion disintegrate.

(3-25-17) By Bob B

°Ten essential services to be cut:

1. outpatient care
2. emergency room trips
3. in-hospital care
4. pregnancy, maternity and newborn care
5. mental health and substance abuse disorder services
6. prescription drugs
7. rehabilitative services
8. lab tests
9. preventive services
10. pediatric services

If Your Birth Sign is Aries...(3-21 to 4-19)

A doer--yes, that's what you are.

A challenge is always good for you.

But people around you learn very quickly

That you resent being told what to do.

Though you are a hard worker,

Too many details can be a shackle.

But you are eager to initiate

Projects that others don't want to tackle.

You are assertive and impulsive.

New adventures always thrill you.

Showing others that you are a leader

Motivates and helps fulfill you.

Being a lively participant

In the everyday bustle of life excites you.

Being able to finish what

You start always thrills and delights you.

Physical accomplishments

Show that your energy is abundant.

To say that you are always in motion

Would, of course, be redundant.

In fact, to everything that happens,

You have a physical reaction.

To anything that's enterprising,

You have a natural attraction.

You have a lot of inner strength;

You are open and direct.

But a disregard for others

Occurs if energy goes unchecked.

Your independent nature is fine,

Since inwardly you are so strong.

But you can also be self-centered.

To say that wouldn't be wrong.

Generous in many ways

With time and energy, you know

That keeping high ideals in mind

Is the surest way to go.

You march headstrong into combat--

Verbal or physical. Forward you trudge.

Your anger never lasts for long,

And seldom do you hold a grudge.

But you can be impatient, pushy,

And sometimes a little overzealous.

But because of your honesty,

If something is wrong, you will tell us.

Watch that your self-confidence

Doesn't end up being excessive.

Learn the difference between being

Confidently and rudely aggressive.

Ready to try anything once,

You always maintain a frantic pace.

But disappointment of stifled efforts

Shows up clearly on your face.

You're always ready to fight injustice.

There are few doubts--if any--

Whether you can accomplish your tasks.

Just try NOT to take on too many.

(3-23-17) By Bob B

A Place Called Lie Lie Land

Once there was a nation, which

Boasted of its wealth and size.

In that nation lies became truth,

And truth became known as lies.

Thus, the country corroborated

An expert's wise and salient prediction

That soon the people everywhere

Wouldn't know fact from fiction.

"Science is irrelevant,"

The leaders of the land decreed.

"Clamp down on critical thinking

And we'll maintain control indeed."

The people became MORE baffled,

MORE confused, MORE perplexed,

And wondered what kind of craziness

They were going to encounter next.

The art of political doublespeak

Was praised, encouraged and expanded.

If you called it gobbledygook,

You were severely reprimanded.

Reporters who sought facts were called

"Purveyors of mendacity,"

While those who were irrational

Were "pillars of veracity."

The general rule was answer a question

With a question, or try to deflect

Any queries toward dead ends.

The tactic was called "Misdirect."

The leader was an expert at

Duplicity and subterfuge.

(Ruling without compassion and sense

Can work when a person's ego is HUGE.)

Democratic institutions

Were mercilessly under attack

By vicious lies, to such an extent

That pillars of freedom started to crack.

Sad it was to see such a land

Change from what it once had been.

Not until people opened their eyes

Would things improve. Not until then.

(3-21-17; 1-30-18) By Bob B

Here, Kitty Kitty!

"Darn! She's calling me again.

Doesn't she know I'm not in the mood?

If I have to go to her,

It had better involve some food.

"Not that same old brand again!

What if I merely walk away?

Will she get the point of what

I am trying to convey?

"No, my tactic isn't working.

That's no way to treat a cat!

Don't forget that we felines

Created the art of tit for tat.

"Clothes just out of the dryer--

A perfect place to curl up

Until she rudely disturbs my slumber

And yells out, 'No, no, Buttercup!'

" 'Buttercup.' What a name!

I would rather my name be

Nefertiti or Cleopatra.

But 'Buttercup' she stuck on me.

"Oh, well, I get even.

When guests come, I just hide.

They will meet me on MY terms.

After all, I've got my pride.

"Once she gave me a catnip toy

Then took it away. Don't know why.

She probably realized

That catnip sort of made me high.

"Yesterday she yelled at me.

I broke her favorite figurine.

I thought it was for me to play with.

Talk about a crazy scene!

"Today I'd better walk on eggshells;

I'll have to mind my p's and q's.

I need to find a place where I

Can lie undisturbed and snooze.

"She thinks I'll protect her from

Little critters. She's so trusting.

But I won't go near a rat.

They're so utterly disgusting!

"Maybe I'd better stop complaining,

Although it's part of my nature to grouse.

If she isn't TOO annoying,

I will let her stay in my house."

(3-20-17) By Bob B

My Thingamajig

Problems can be small;

Problems can be big.

I'm having a problem

With my thingamajig.

Too much information,

Some might say.

But it's a kind of problem

You can't wish away.

When they are new,

They work like a dream.

Everything flows

In a steady stream.

But as they get older,

Like many things--I swear--

They start showing

A lot of wear and tear.

I'm sure you could

Make a funny quip;

But it isn't funny

When they start to drip.

One could try to stop

The dripping with one's hand.

But obviously,

It won't go as planned.

I often wonder what

Freud might have said.

The problem's not unique;

It's fairly widespread.

It really doesn't help

To squeeze it or strike it.

Where can I find

Another one just like it?

There HAS to be someone

Who could repair it.

Or do I have to

Simply grin and bear it?

I can't ignore the problem;

It won't disappear.

Darn! A LEAKY FAUCET

Is SUCH a pain in the rear!

(3-18-17) By Bob B

Interior Monologue

"Distractions, yes! How I love them!

I love to keep the media guessing.

And I can do most anything

And still get my supporters' blessing.

"Wait until they see my budget.

I can hardly contain my laughter.

Crafty convincing will prove we don't

Need the programs I'm going after.

"The EPA? A waste of money.

How easy it will be to arrange

To spend our money on something much

More important than climate change!

"And programs for the needy? Bah!

Important to me is the person who offers

The most discreet methods of placing

Large amounts of cash in my coffers.

"My poorest supporters won’t even see

How badly they are being screwed.

I'll keep blaming the dishonest press

And the Democrats' ineptitude.

"Those making over 250

Thousand dollars a year deserve

More in the way of tax breaks for they

Are the supporters I aim to serve.

"I don’t care if kids go hungry.

The rich and poor and in-between

Will benefit more if we direct funds

Into our giant war machine.

"I'm beside myself with joy.

I'm the expert. I'm so good

At making people think I give

A damn about their livelihood.

"The poor, the kids, the elderly,

People needing jobs…ALL

Will be so much better off

After I build my towering wall.

"I need my weekends at Mar-a-Lago.

It's there where I can clear my head.

Will three million dollars of taxpayer money

Per weekend put us in the red?

"It's great how you can manipulate

The people by making up facts and lies.

Most of them don't even know

You're pulling the wool over their eyes."

(3-17-17) By Bob B

Robin Hood in Reverse

Instead of fixing Obamacare,

Republicans are making it worse.

They want to play Robin Hood,

But they are playing the role in reverse.

Wanting to come to someone's rescue,

They've come up with a major switch

By robbing money from the poor

And giving that money to the rich.

To cut Medicaid by billions

Of dollars over the next ten years

Will hurt the people who need the money

The most. The plan deserves no cheers.

To give 880 billion

Dollars in tax cuts to those with wealth

Shows that many Republicans care

More about money than people's health.

Experts predict that over a decade

Twenty-four million people will lose

Their health insurance, which is not

Very reassuring news.

As usual, the elderly

And poor will be the hardest hit.

People have to raise their voices.

We have the right to throw a fit.

So raise your fist in protest while

Ryan and his merry men

With hypocritical smiles on their faces

All come riding through the glen.

(3-15-17) By Bob B

Ubiquitous Bugs

Another claim, and it's a doozy.

This one's crossing new frontiers

Of paranoia and total insanity.

You'll hardly believe your very own ears.

Kellyanne CONjob is now saying

In all seriousness that they've

Determined that Donald Trump could have

Been spied on via a microwave!

There's no need for evidence

In our conspiracy theory society.

Just make up anything

And it can be the cause of anxiety.

Put the finest dress on a fib;

However, no matter how hard you try

To decorate and embellish it,

Your lie simply remains a lie.

Trump had better check his Sharpie.

Who knows? It might be bugged.

And just to be safe, his coffee maker

And blow-dryer should stay unplugged.

(3-13-17) By Bob B

More Lies

When Trump took office, Sean Spicer,

Press Secretary, expressed

Negative feelings about low figures

For unemployment and further stressed

That such statistics were meaningless.

The important thing is jobs, he said.

Apparently, he was implying

That we have often been misled.

New figures have just come out

Regarding the unemployment rate,

Which is 4.7 percent.

The White House NOW thinks that's great!

Suddenly, figures and numbers

Have meaning, though they didn't before.

Isn't it odd how credibility

Doesn't matter anymore?

The White House has no faith at all

In what the CBO° has to say

Regarding repercussions of

The Republican "fix" for the ACA.°°

White House figures will be more accurate,

Spicer insists, which implies

That we are going to be bombarded

With more alternative facts and lies.

(3-11-17) By Bob B

°Congressional Budget Office

°°Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)

Unbelievable Savagery

Dandara dos Santos, a transgender woman,

Lived in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Although we know very little about her,

The fate that befell her should make you feel ill.

The woman, forty-two years old,

Was dragged from her home by a cruel group of thugs

Out into the street of the town

Where she met with kicks and slugs.

The vicious and violent attackers beat her--

Also using a plank of wood--

While she pleaded and begged for her life

On the cobblestone street of the neighborhood.

They dumped her into a filthy wheelbarrow

And took her to an alley where shortly thereafter

Dandara died from repeated beatings

Amid cold-blooded taunts and laughter.

What is wrong with humanity

That humans can be so animalistic?

Two hundred ninety-five transgender people

Were murdered in a year°--an ugly statistic.

Dandara, most of us didn't know you,

And yet we know that you by far

Outvalue the hateful brutes that killed you.

Rest in peace, wherever you are.

(3-8-17) By Bob B

°From Oct 1, 2015 to Sep 1, 2016, worldwide

Our Adventures in Wonderland

How we ever ended up

In Wonderland is anyone's guess.

A white rabbit led us down

A hole without an easy egress.

Not enough people wondered

Why the rabbit seemed so strange--

How such a peculiar figure

Could bring about positive change.

Opened doors are way too small;

Closed doors are securely locked.

Either the key is out of reach

Or the path to find it is blocked.

Desperately, we seek an escape.

Once a singular exit appears,

We can swim out with the rat

Or stay and drown in a flood of tears.

We find ourselves in a caucus-race,

Going nowhere. No one's winning.

Floundering about we wonder

Why the Cheshire Cat is grinning.

The caterpillar dreamily tells us,

"Eat of the mushroom--from either side.

One makes you smarter; one makes you dumber.

Use your conscience as your guide."

It's hard to keep our stories straight,

For we hardly know who we are.

We aren't what we were yesterday,

And yet we are, which seems bizarre.

Identities become confused

When everyone speaks in nonsense rhymes.

The bundle that we hold in our arms

Becomes too much to handle at times.

The March Hare, Dormouse, and Hatter,

Sitting together and drinking their tea,

Have a circuitous conversation--

An alternate reality.

Dare we play with the King and Queen,

Who, by the way, think we're fools?

We have all the accoutrements,

But they keep changing all the rules.

The Queen shouts, "Off with their heads!"

Without a bit of remorse or repentance.

Her philosophy is, of course,

The verdict should follow the sentence.

All the chaos in Wonderland

Has baffled us and also incensed us.

How do we manage in such a place

When the cards are stacked against us?

Find Alice. Where is Alice?

She might help us find the solution.

If she saw through the Cheshire Cat's smile

And if she has a strong constitution.

(3-6-17) By Bob B

Paranoia?

Trump thinks that his phones were tapped

During the campaign season.

If that had been the case, there had to

Have been a very good reason.

If intelligence agencies

Did indeed suspect

Questionable activity

Worthy of being checked,

Maybe they did tap his phones.

But James Clapper* denies it.

Another example of Trump crying "Wolf!"?

We know how often he tries it.

Or is it just one more distraction

To steer us away from how

Trump and certain Republican friends

Are screwing us over right now

By talking of vouchers; talking of limiting

Freedom of expression;

And making a mess of health care, which

Has been their constant obsession;

And letting people discriminate

Based on religious convictions--

An insult to equal rights and they
Can see no contradictions. 

Trump's team and Russians have had

Frequent conversations.

Whatever the topics, we know they weren't

Mere congratulations.

Perhaps it's just Trump's paranoia

Coming to the fore.

What started out as a joke isn't

Funny anymore.

(3-5-17) By Bob B

*Former Director of National Intelligence

The Broken Teacup*

Ikkyu as a very young child

Displayed signs of being clever.

That he would one day be a great master,

There was no doubt whatsoever.

His teacher had one small treasure--

A precious teacup, a rare antique.

Its beauty was beyond compare,

Its style and craftsmanship unique.

One day Ikkyu happened to break

His teacher's cup. Horror-struck,

He heard his teacher's approaching footsteps,

And there he was: a sitting duck.

Ikkyu quickly picked up the pieces

And held them behind his back. "Why,"

He asked his sagacious teacher,

"Is it that people have to die?"

"Dying is a natural thing,"

The teacher replied, trying to give

A meaningful explanation.

"Everything has just so long to live."

Ikkyu slowly held out his hands,

Showing his teacher the broken cup.

Then he demurely said, "It appears

As though your teacup's time was up."

(2-3-17) By Bob B

*An old anecdote retold here in verse

The Strawberry*

While walking in a desolate area

Without a weapon and all alone,

A man encountered a vicious tiger.

He stopped in his tracks and uttered a moan.

He ran to the edge of a nearby cliff

And glanced at the jagged rocks below.

Desperate, he climbed down a vine

And hung there swinging to and fro.

Looking up, he saw two mice

And had to stifle his fearful cries.

The mice were gnawing on the vine!

His whole life flashed before his eyes.

Then he noticed a strawberry plant.

Holding on as best he could,

He plucked a single berry and ate it.

A berry had never tasted so good!

(3-2-17) By Bob B

*An old tale retold here in verse

What Goes Around, Comes Around*

A poor farmer had grown so old

That he could no longer work on his land.

He sat on the porch and watched his son work,

Assuming his son would understand.

However, the son, working the fields,

Occasionally would look at his dad

And think to himself, "He does nothing!

His uselessness is driving me mad!"

The son's frustration increased daily.

His selfish resentment wouldn't subside.

He gathered some wood, constructed a coffin,

And told his father to climb inside.

Dragging the coffin to the edge of a cliff,

He stopped when he heard a tapping sound

Coming from the lid, which

He removed and laid on the ground.

The father looked up at his son and said,

"Son, I'd like to avoid a tiff,

But it is obvious to me that you

Are going to throw me over the cliff.

"Throw me over the precipice.

That's odd behavior, but I'll excuse it.

But keep this beautiful, wooden coffin;

YOUR children might want to use it."

(3-1-17) By Bob B

*An old tale retold here in verse