Crossing the Rivers of Fire and Water: A Parable*

Picture a traveler, journeying westward,

Having traversed mile after mile

A long road up hills and through valleys

But keeping his focus all the while.

All of a sudden, he encounters

An obstacle and doesn't know whether

He can continue. In front of him,

Two rivers are rushing together:

Extending north a river of water

Such as he had never seen prior

To that day; extending south

A spitting, spattering river of fire.

Dividing the rivers, there is a path--

A narrow one, five inches wide--

The only way for him to get

From one bank to the other side.

"Brigands and wild beasts are behind me,"

Gasps the traveler and lets out a cry.

"If I go back or stay here I perish.

But if I cross the rivers I'll die!"

He looks at the fiery, unending river

Extending south; then he looks north

At the raging, equally endless water

And boldly says, "I choose to go forth."

At times, waves of water surge

Over the path before him. And then

At other times, fiery flames

Scorch the path again and again.

He thinks he hears a voice behind him,

Urging him to keep going on.

Since he hears no other voices,

He wonders where the brigands have gone.

Coming from deep inside him perhaps

Or from the western bank a voice

Gives him greater confidence--

Gives him a reason to rejoice:

"Continue forward, traveler,

Sincere is your heart; single, your mind.

Grounded in right-mindedness,

You can leave your fears behind."

Then from the eastern bank he hears:

"Come back, or you will meet your death."

Offering empty promises,

The brigands only waste their breath.

Determined, our traveler keeps moving forward,

Knowing that all of his fears are groundless,

For once he reaches the western bank,

He is certain his bliss will be boundless.

The person who wrote the parable--

The venerable Shan Tao--explained

The meaning of every symbol therein,

But obviously, I have refrained

From saying too much. I have chosen

A way that's much more roundabout:

If you want to make sense of the story,

It's up to you to figure it out.

(10-31-17) By Bob B 

*Based on the parable by Shan Tao (613-681)

Dear Russia...

Dear Russia, since you're

Already meddling in our affairs,

And seem to have experience

Dealing with slippery billionaires,

Could you maybe take a peek

At Trump's personal IRS files

And share all of his tax returns

With the use of all of your wiles?

People have been asking, but

The man has been disinclined

To share the information with us.

If YOU do it, he shouldn't mind.

For some reason (why could that be?)

A president who loves to barter

Won't do something that was done

By all presidents since Jimmy Carter.

If he has a good excuse,

He should tell us; we're all ears.

The audit excuse doesn't hold water.

And what about all the other years?

If there's nothing to cover up,

There's no reason to fear a chiding.

He's so reluctant to be transparent

That we keep wondering what he's hiding.

And since you in our last election

Were one of Trump's top promoters,

We hope you will help us out.

Yours truly, American voters.

(10-30-17) By Bob B

If Not Collusion, Then What?

The Mueller-led investigation

Continues. Everyone wants to know

If the findings will prove what many

People suspected a year ago.

So much suspicious activity!

So many meetings occurred!

How many shady dealings

With how many people were secured?

We hear that Cambridge Analytica--

The data firm for Trump's campaign--

Reached out to Julian Assange

(Tool of the Kremlin) to obtain

Documents stolen by

A foreign government to attack

Our voting process. And now look:

We're stuck with a megalomaniac!

It sounds very much like collusion

According to every indicator.

What about obstruction of justice?

Oh, well, that came later.

Meanwhile Trump continues to make

False or misleading statements each day

In efforts to bolster his base of support,

Confuse the issues, and lead us astray.

"I'm a very intelligent person,"

He likes to tell us again and again.

(Won't they have fun with that--

The commentators on CNN?)

What is happening defies belief.

The craziness was unforeseen.

Who ever knew the magnitude

Of Trump's propaganda machine?

(10-27-17) By Bob B

Tweetworld

Having a limit of only so many

Characters when you're tweeting

Means that you must be concise,

Which can be self-defeating.

Why so short? Is it that

People don’t delight

In spending too much time reading

Words that others write?

Can you remember the days when TV

Programs could be seen

Without obnoxious tweets being

Flashed upon the screen?

Or when the news was real news

And not simply a lot

Of tweets from viewers watching the program

And saying what they thought?

Who cares what the viewers think?

Just give us the news--

Credible reports filled with

Facts and interviews.

Trump loves his tweets, we know.

Through tweets he vents his wrath,

Although he sometimes comes off sounding

Like a sociopath.

Regarding his attention span,

Would it be so wrong

To say that it is only one hundred

Forty characters long?

Welcome to Tweetworld--a place where

Specifics are obsolete.

And heaven forbid that anything written

Be longer than a tweet!

(10-25-17) By Bob B

The Lesson*

One day a wealthy father

Decides that it is time to give

His privileged son a lesson on

How the poor actually live.

After spending a day and a night

On a poor, humble farm with his son,

The father asks on the drive home,

"How was your stay? Did you have fun?"

"Oh, yes indeed," says the son.

"They're very poor. Did you see?"

Asks the father. The son nods,

Having no reason to disagree.

The father continues: "Tell me what

You learned about being poor."

The son thinks and says, "We

Have only ONE dog; they have FOUR.

"In our garden, we have a fountain;

They have an endless stream that runs by.

Our garden has boring lamps;

They have all the stars in the sky.

"Our property stops at our fence.

To see beyond the garden is hard.

For them, on the other hand,

The entire horizon is their backyard."

The father doesn't know what to say.

Smiling from across the car,

The son says, "Thank you so much, Dad,

For showing me how poor we are."

(10-23-17) By Bob B

*A popular tale retold here in verse

Just Call It Fake News (2)

When critics say what you don't like,

Here's a simple solution:

Call them all untrustworthy,

And you'll get restitution.

Just call it fake news--

No matter what they say.

Help your fans to see that facts

Only get in the way.

Facts are inconvenient, so that's

Why you call them fake.

Acknowledging that you are wrong

Would be a big mistake.

If you play your cards right, then

The people on your side

Will not know or will not even

Care that you have lied.

You can easily spread your lies

To help you reach your goals

With the help of some of Russia's

Finest Internet trolls.

Colluding with other countries can

Also boost your chances

Of building a base of gullible fans

Despite the circumstances.

As long as fans do not see

That they are being played,

And you can turn them against the press,

You have got it made.

Just call it fake news--

No matter what they say.

Help your fans to see that facts

Only get in the way.

(10-21-17) By Bob B

The Bumbler in Chief

During Trump's campaign we saw

How very low the man could stoop

When it came to insulting any

Individual person or group.

The Gold Star family Khan, for example,

Received a heap of Trumpian abuse

As Trump blasted the family with

Insults, childish but profuse.

But even when Trump makes an attempt

To say the right thing, he still bumbles.

His team can pass him the ball, but then

The clueless president still fumbles.

He can have General Kelly

Speak in his defense, but then

On the next opportunity,

He'll stick his foot in his mouth again.

From someone in Trump's position we

Expect much more finesse, but alas!

In the meantime all we can do

Is say to ourselves, "This, too, will pass."

(10-20-17) By Bob B

On Those Who Drop "Christ" from "Christian"

Found all over the world,

And spreading the deadly views

Of hate-mongering preachers

From whom they get their cues,

Unchristianly Christians

Peddle their thou-shalt-nots

And never question the dogma

That slyly poisons their thoughts.

“It has to be right for you,

Since it's right for me.”

That’s what most of them think

Who judge to the nth degree.

If your beliefs are different

Or vary from theirs, forget

Heartfelt understanding;

You're too much of a threat.

Other religions, too,

Are certainly not exempt

From dangerous fanatics

Whose actions draw contempt.

Twisting the sacred scriptures

To suit their misinformed needs,

They act without perceiving

The shallowness of their deeds.

People are ostracized

And even lose their lives

When shameful ideology

Or noxious ignorance thrives.

And hypocrites abound.

We often hear of them—

The ones who criticize others,

Then do what they condemn.

How sad it is when people’s

Actions demonstrate

How little they love to love

But how they love to hate!

(10-19-17) By Bob B

"Unhinged"

People say Trump is "reckless," "unhinged,"

"Consumed by his dark moods,"

"Unfit," "unstable" and that he's like

A "tantrum-throwing child" that broods.

He's "unraveling," "losing a step…."

He's "dangerous for the country," too.

"Deteriorating on the job"

Has been said by more than a few.

White House staffers must protect him

From himself. And SO much

Chaos exists, that some say he

Has the "reverse Midas touch."

When he's behind a teleprompter,

The man sounds less obtuse.

But when he speaks off the cuff,

My goodness! all hell breaks loose.

So has the White House now become

An adult day care center? How sad!

Bush 2 is probably thinking,

"And YOU thought that I was bad!"

(10-12-17) By Bob B

A Tangled Web All Right!

Vladimir Putin had nothing to do

With THIS poem. Let me be clear.

(Nowadays it's hard to tell

How much the Russians interfere.)

Oh, of course, he could assign

An Internet troll to try to denounce me--

To criticize my rhythm and rhyme,

To shame, condemn, or verbally trounce me.

But Putin, alas, has many more

Important matters to address--

How to influence American elections

And cause confusion, more or less.

Long ago many Americans

Were troubled by the "Red Scare."

Now they welcome with open arms

This autocratic billionaire

Who stifles dissent, stomps on rights,

And benefits from corruption as well.

How many opponents has Putin

Disappeared? Hard to tell.

How people see the things they see

Is strangely and fearfully odd--

How they perceive a leader's illusion
And miss the monster behind the façade.

As more experts connect the dots,

They are wondering what protections

Can be implemented to stop

Outside meddling in future elections.

To quote Sir Walter Scott, "Oh,

What a tangled web we weave…."

How much more interference

Does Putin have up his sleeve?

(10-10-17) By Bob B

Fifty-nine Dead; Hundreds Wounded

Fifty-nine victims have died so far--

Children, lovers, husbands, wives,

Parents, siblings, cousins, friends….

Fifty-nine have lost their lives

To senseless violence: a mass shooting

In Las Vegas--a night of hell.

And nearly 500 people

Attending the concert were wounded as well.

Read their names; read their stories.

They're the innocent; they're the ones

Who faced unspeakable horrors that

Occur when madmen have access to guns.

No, not merely access to guns,

But access to bump fire stock devices.

Does the "right" to such contraptions

Justify human sacrifices?

Are we surprised at the reaction?

In many a weapons showcase room

Or online site there has been

A bump stock sales boom!

At one time many people thought

That Sandy Hook would be the last straw.

Then came Orlando, and now Las Vegas.

Somewhere there's a serious flaw.

Donors grease the politicians'

Palms; lobbyists state their demands.

I would NOT want to be

A politician with blood on my hands.

(10-7-17) By Bob B

And Another Hypocrite Bites the Dust

Tim Murphy° of Pennsylvania--

Proud of his anti-abortion stance

And long-time anti-abortion record--

Was caught doing a different dance:

Murphy's former mistress wonders

How the man has reconciled

His pro-life pretensions while also wanting

Her to abort their unborn child.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, Mr. Murphy.

But maybe the cloud has a silver lining

When you step down from your position,

For word is out that you're resigning.

Oh, you hypocrites! You love to decide

What's good for other people. How true!

But you do what you damn well choose,

For rules do NOT apply to you!

(10-6-17) By Bob B

°Congressman from Pennsylvania's 18th District