Let Their Story Be Told

The Skotzki girls, Helga and Inge,

Fifteen and thirteen years old,

Boarded the SS St. Louis in Hamburg.

Let their story forever be told.

The girls' parents, Gunther and Charlotte,

Experienced with growing unease

The dangers of living in Nazi Germany.

The solution: to flee as refugees.

Nine hundred Jewish passengers

Aboard the luxury liner departed

In May of 1939.

For them a new life had started.

Or so they hoped. Two weeks later,

When they reached Cuba--the end of their trip--

Only twenty-eight of the people

Were permitted to leave the ship.

Discrimination and politics

Had suddenly played a deadly hand,

Affecting the fate of those who sought

Asylum in a foreign land.

Toward Florida the ship sailed.

The refugees begged for immigrant status.

The desperate cries refused to budge

The cold, political apparatus.

"We've already fulfilled our quotas."

"Careful! They might be Nazi spies."

Excuses emerged and rumors spread

With paranoid suppositions and lies.

The captain steered the ship back to Europe.

The refugees caught in a game of chance

Were spread among four countries:

The Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, and France.

Of the nine hundred passengers,

Two hundred fifty-four of them lost

Their lives while they were stuck in Europe

During the ghastly Holocaust.

Helga and Inge, along with their parents,

Probably struggled to comprehend

How politics could come before people.

In Auschwitz their lives came to an end.

We know we can't turn back the clock,

But we must do whatever it takes

To put people first and do what is right--
Or else we're doomed to repeat our mistakes.

(4-25-17) By Bob B

If Your Birth Sign Is Taurus...(4-20 to 5-20)

A word that describes you is "practical."

Before doing anything, you want to know

Whether it has a definite purpose.

If it doesn't, it's a no-go.

Before taking action, you must determine

What advantages will be gained.

If you lose your concentration

And scatter your forces, you'll feel drained.

You can concentrate all of your energy

For protracted periods of time.

But if anyone tries to rush you,

That, to you, is a major crime.

Whatever you call reality,

That is what you cling to securely.

And because of your stick-to-itiveness,

You don't give up prematurely.

You need to feel emotionally secure,

And so you are naturally cautious--

Always on the look-out for those

Weighty concerns that threaten to squash us.

Regarding dependability,

That is something at which you excel.

But to you it's extremely important

That you can depend on others as well.

Disappointment doesn't come easy;

You take it very much to heart,

Especially since you know you always

Put the horse before the cart.

If you can follow your planned agenda

And have the time, your tenacity

Helps you accomplish all your goals--

Everything that's within your capacity.

You can be loving and patient,

Soft-spoken, calm and subdued;

But you can be a stubborn cuss

When you're in a not-so-good mood.

Though you're usually slow to anger,

Surely you know what people say:

If you make a Taurean mad,

You'd better get out of his or her way!

You have a keen eye for beauty,

But don't be too materialistic.

Your strong need for material comforts

Could make you act opportunistic.

You need to be close to the earth;

Nature gives you inspiration.

The feeling that your foundation is weak

Causes a lot of exasperation.

If you're stubborn, you're VERY stubborn;

If you're lazy, you've VERY lazy.

Since you're good at whatever you do,

That shouldn't sound so crazy.

Your determination and strength

Should be an inspiration to all.

If you want to, you can do wonders.

It's up to you; it's your call.

(4-23-17) By Bob B

O'Reilly Got the Boot!

Bill O'Reilly got the boot!

Fox News has said good-by--

A place where reputable commentators

Are already in short supply.

He faces too many allegations

Of sexual harassment. But, oh dear!

What a mess he's made of things

Now in his Fox News career!

Being a brute and a hypocrite

For Bill O'Reilly was NOT hard to handle.

Funny, but he was an outspoken critic

During the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.

Peddler of white nationalistic

Ideas, O'Reilly does have his fans.

He'll find a job with someone who

Peddles theories as bizarre as that man's.

His sudden departure from the station

Doesn't really affect us directly.

But why doesn't a person like him

Behave more circumspectly?

I guess when your mentor is Roger Ailes,

You have the power to do as you wish--

To regard EACH female employee

Or guest as merely a sexy dish.

(4-21-17) By Bob B

Deregulation

Deregulation.

Deregulation.

That's what Trump says

Is going to save the nation.

To hell with the environment

And social media activist memes.

Let the coal industry dump

Coal debris in rivers and streams.

Forget greenhouse gas emissions.

There are rules to rearrange,

Repeal, expunge, delete, rescind…

Who cares about climate change?

Good-bye to banking restrictions.

Give tighter controls the ax.

Down with all consumer protections!

Three cheers for Goldman Sachs!

Who needs the EPA?

Why do all the activists seethe

When factories pollute the air?

The air is JUST something we breathe.

Caveat emptor--

That's the rule that's going to last.

Caveat venditor

Will become a thing of the past.

Benefiting the 1%

Has to be a worthwhile goal.

How else will those at the top

Keep the people under control?

Through rollbacks in regulations

Runs one common thread:

Relief for the corporations;

The rest of us can all drop dead.

Deregulation.

Deregulation.

That, according to Donald Trump,

Is going to save the nation.

(4-17-17) By Bob B

Remembering Number 42

Certain events change our world

And boldly challenge the status quo,

Such as the following major event

That happened seventy years ago:

Sending shock waves throughout society,

Jackie Robinson challenged the norm

And gave a segregated system--

Major league baseball--a brand-new form.

Robinson broke the major league

Color barrier by cutting through

Years of unfair treatment in sports.

Three cheers for Number 42!

The ongoing struggle for civil rights

Would take inning after inning,

For Robinson's accomplishment

Wasn't an end but just a beginning.

Facing enormous hostility still,

The baseball player held his ground.

Sadly it took many years

For politicians to come around.

A year later President Truman

Integrated the military--

Also a long time coming,

But also a move that was necessary.

Seventeen long years later

Congress passed legislation

In civil rights, which became

A major blow to segregation.

Why so long? So it goes;

In politics you will find

That often we want to move ahead

While politicians lag behind.

Other barriers are still to be broken--

Barriers to civil and equal rights.

There are more fights to be fought

And goals on which to set our sights.

So let the number 42

Honor the history-making man

Who was a hero among many heroes,

Whether or not you're a baseball fan.

(4-15-17) By Bob B

What a Trip!

What a trip! Have you ever

Had a capsule endoscopy?

The prepping procedure's exactly what

You do for a colonoscopy.

It's SO much fun! Of course, I don't

Have to say I'm being sarcastic.

The feeling of peeing out one's rear

Isn't a feeling I'd call fantastic.

After the prep, it's all downhill.

A pill-like camera is ingested--

One that travels through the body,

Basically unmolested.

Wires taped to your body

Connect to a monitor, which will record

The camera's journey through your system.

"Everybody, hop on board!

"After the throat, we take a plunge

Down the esophagus. Hurray!

We're now in an empty stomach.

There's no food to get in the way.

"Watch out for those dangerous acids,

Which ask, 'What is this to digest?'

To them a camera passing through

Is NOT a very welcome guest.

"Next stop: the duodenum.

Here we go around the bend.

We still have a ways to go

Before our adventure nears its end.

"The long trek through the small intestine

Is a windy, curvy path

Five to seven meters long.

How many feet? You do the math.

"Say hi to Mr. Appendix

As we leisurely pass him by.

He's not the most appreciated

Part of the human body. Poor guy.

"As we traverse the colon we

Realize the end's in sight.

How refreshing to know that at

The end of the tunnel, there's a light!

"We hope the journey was a safe one

With NO dangers or major surprises.

The prep indeed was the worst part of all,

But life is full of compromises."

What happens to the capsule next

I'll leave to your imagination.

If everything comes out as planned,

That'll be cause for celebration.

(4-4-17) By Bob B