Returning

To return to the essence of what I was

Before I was: a mystery.

Will knowing who or what I was

Before I was be clear to me?

To speculate on lofty dreams:

Wistful efforts to fantasize

Something that’s unheard by formless

Ears or seen by formless eyes.

Disintegration of ruins show

The odd conception of what became

A vainglorious attempt to have

A monument outlast its name.

Will the name be muffled by

The echoes of a limitless void

When all semblance to what we think

Is real is once and for all destroyed?

Even though impermanence

Governs what we think and feel,

Maybe a deep understanding

Reveals something pure and real--

As real as any bubble that bursts

Or lightning flash from sky to earth.

Must being be purely palpable,

Or does it somehow transcend our birth?

Speculation gives the seeker

Hope--a blissful sanguinity--

While past, present, and future constantly

Merge into infinity?

-by Bob B (7-28-18)

The D.T. Playbook: Ch 4 (Information War)

Manipulating information

To craftily plot your lore

Is necessary if you want

To continue an information war.

Specific example: Deny Russian

Collusion and interference in

U.S. elections, and do not stop

Seeking info that you can spin.

After months of denying Russian

Cyber attacks and election meddling,

Then admit the possibility

Through a little backpedaling.

Say that well…maybe they meddled,

But hastily add: so did others.

Say you'd still end all queries

And probes if you had your druthers.

It's vital, of course, that you keep

Bashing the press. Be sure to accuse

Investigative journalists

Of making up tons of fake news.

Finally, say the Russians will

Interfere in the U.S., and that's

How in elections this November

They plan to help the DEMOCRATS!

Why? Because you're so hard

(Wink!) on Russia. You'll be winning.

Your fawning fans will eat it up,

And you will have all heads spinning.

Your friends on your favorite TV station

Will help you criticize and demean

Those who don't agree with you.
Praise to your propaganda machine!

Who cares what the world thinks?

You've got your fans. You've got your base.

There's no match for a stable genius

Who says to the world, "In your face!"

-by Bob B (7-25-18)

A Willing Exchange

Nondescript, muffled sounds

Can penetrate cement and wood

And dirt, but silence dominates

This dank and dreary neighborhood.

Days are long and nights are frigid

Here where I’ve been laid to rest.

I slumber with my Purple Heart

And other medals across my chest.

How fickle life is! Good intentions

And dreams often come to naught.

Too late we learn the consequences

Of trusting all that we were taught.

Alas, the mighty powers that were

Had in mind a contrary plan.

They sent me off to fight their war

In the mountains of Afghanistan.

“When Johnny Comes Marching Home”: my buddies

And I would sometimes sing that song.

But fate presented a different plan

For my return all along.

I "marched" home, although my marching

Was somewhat a paradox:

I came home covered with medals

And lying in a flag-wrapped box.

Medals! Let the generals keep them. 

If I had a choice, I’d rather be

At home playing with my kids

And caring for my family.

-by Bob B (7-23-18)

Taking a Knee

When the anthem begins and the players

Hear the words "Oh, say can you see…"

Some have chosen not to remain

Standing; instead, they've taken a knee.

Taking a knee to protest injustice,

The players have faced their critics who feel

That when the national anthem is played,

People don't have the right to kneel.

But what about a president

Who criticizes our institutions--

Who calls the press the enemy

And scorns their vigorous contributions?

What about a president

Whose racist ties are loud and glaring--

Whose stance on U.S. asylum laws

Is unequivocally cold and uncaring?

What about a president

Who boldly refuses to take a stand

Against the industries that poison

Our water and threaten to ravage our land?

What about a president

Who throws our allies under the bus

And sidles up to Vladimir Putin

After what Putin has done to us?

What about a president--

A blowhard who has dropped the ball

In dealing with corruption, for his

Admin's the most corrupt of all?

What about a president

Who calls unpatriotic those

Who take a stand--or knee--against

Practices that they oppose?

This from a man whose actions border

The actions of someone strangely psychotic!

Trump has no right to call any

Other American unpatriotic.

-by Bob B (7-21-18)

Advice from Putin

"Donald, you are learning fast.

Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Excuse me for a minute while

I adjust the puppet strings….

"Fooling the public is a must.

Listening to me will ease your fears.

I have been duping people

All over the world for many years.

"You are learning in leaps and bounds.

Sometimes I even think you're smart.

Calling the press the enemy

Is a wonderful way to start.

"Controlling the media is a must.

Your tweets are useful memoranda.

Your Sinclair Group and Fox News

Can help you spread your propaganda.

"It's very important to keep up the lies.

Let your admin team transmit them.

They will ride roughshod over

The people; they won't know what hit them.

"When your attacks on the FBI

And DOJ are intensified,

I can't help admitting that

I get all tingly inside.

"Of course, one thing that makes

It easy for you to break the rules

Is the fact that many of your

Republican members of Congress are fools.

"You also must remember that NATO

Countries are your REAL foes.

When you trash them, I say to myself,

'Donald's hit it on the nose.'

"Oh, about those deals you mentioned...

Well, we can discuss them later.

We appreciate all you're doing

To help us make Russia greater.

"Don't forget: When people mention

Subjects that for you are taboo,

Just stop and ask yourself,

'What would Vladimir Putin do?'"

-by Bob B (7-17-18)

The Death of a Star

(For Shirley, 10-31-1929 to 7-13-2018)

Countless stars light up our lives

And fill our hearts with brightness and splendor.

Sometimes they flash with sparkling brilliance;

Sometimes their rays are gentle and tender.

A star to me was my cousin Shirley,

Whose comforting warmth and radiant glow

Outshone even our glorious sun.

Anybody who knew her would know.

Emitting the light of true compassion,

She never let the darkness prevail

Or woefully impose restrictions

On love impossible to curtail.

And, oh, that love shone on so many.

From a place close by or even from afar,

Shirley's loving-kindness would touch you

As though you'd been touched by the warmth of a star.

But stars do not shine forever.

One sad day their brightness will fade.

Shirley's light was extinguished this week.

Though death is something we cannot evade,

The light of love that Shirley spread

On all who knew her still glows and gleams.

It fills our hearts with goodness and kindness;

It gives us hope; it guides and redeems.

The most spectacular sunrise that ever

Spread across the New Mexican skies

Would still be no match for the beauty of Shirley,

Her smile, or the love that poured from her eyes.

Rest in peace, beautiful cousin.

-by Bob B (7-13-18)

What a Spectacle!

Ladies and gentlemen, here you have

An amazing three-ring circus before you.

You might want to turn your heads.

But keep your focus; we implore you.

Center ring: Peter Strzok--

Top spy finder of the FBI.

On the right: House Republicans.

Their main goal: to mortify.

Ring on the left: Democrats,

Giving Strzok some vital support

While the clowns in the other ring

Make of the show a kangaroo court.

Gowdy--the walking dead of Congress

Who's always eager for moments of glory--

Stirs up disorder and chaos as he

Tries to obscure the REAL story:

The details of what was really behind

Russian meddling in our elections.

Instead, he and the ones on the right

Labor to make foolish connections.

They are determined to prove their point.

Watch them as they grasp at straws

To smear the FBI and show

How it suffers from major flaws.

Gowdy, Gaetz, Jordan, and others--

All on the conspiratorial team--

Are loyal NOT to America but

To themselves and the Trump regime.

Their blatant behavior is the kind

That makes honest truth-seekers seethe.

Their heads are so far up their you-know-whats

It's hard to imagine how they can breathe.

What a show or spectacle--

One that's embarrassing to boot!

One clown makes a fool of himself;

The other clowns will follow suit.

-by Bob B (7-13-18)

July 4, 2018

Picnics, parties, marches, laughter,

Potato salad, apple pie…

Friends and families united

And fireworks lit up the nighttime sky.

Some, however, couldn't partake--

Some with horrific stories to tell,

Who, if they could see the fireworks,

Had to watch them from a cell.

Parents separated from children

Here seeking refuge learned

How the rules of immigration

Can be so quickly overturned.

Some are forced to be deported

To Mexico and beyond--

Forced to leave their kids behind,

Denied due process, denied even bond.

The president and his admin team--

These our heroes! These our champs!--

Propose a plan to reunify

Families in internment camps!

Refuge seekers torn apart

Learned not in a pretty way

How people in America

Honor Independence Day.

If Lady Liberty were able,

She’d lay down her tablet and flame

And raise up her hands in order

To hide her tearful face in shame. 

-by Bob B (7-5-18)

To Russia with Love and Blah Blah Blah

A Republican delegation

From Congress has taken a little trip

To Russia, where the members hope

To strengthen a budding relationship.

But have they asked critical questions

About Crimea--the annexation--

Russia's support for Assad, or even

One human rights violation?

Have they asked about Russian meddling

In our elections? What about

Jailed dissenters, poisonings,

And freedoms that the leaders flout?

What about Russian involvement

In other countries' important elections?

Or did they even think to question

Russian-U.S. financial connections?

Were any of these questions asked?

The answer is no--none of the above.

Their murky mission instead is for them

To go to Russia to…spread their love

Prior to Trump's meeting with Putin--

The secret meeting behind closed doors,

Where the former KGB spy

Will have Trump groveling on all fours.

When there are reasons for cover-ups,

It isn't hard to understand

How out of desperation someone

Could play into another's hand.

Not only are Putin and Donald Trump

Lovingly exchanging rings,

But Putin also has Trump's lackeys

Dangling from his puppet strings.

-by Bob B (7-4-18)