Sorry, Cousin

If three billion years ago--

According to what the scientists say--

We were merely single-celled beings,

We have come a long, long way.

It’s hard to imagine life before

Becoming multi-cellular creatures

With such a wide assortment of

Fascinating traits and features.

If sixty percent of our DNA

Is shared with fruit flies, we can see

That we humans and fruit flies have

A certain commonality.

If ninety-two percent of our

DNA is shared with mice,

Before we take their little lives,

Do we ever stop and think twice?

Before we kill that fly or rodent--

For reasons that number more than a dozen--

We could at least show a little

Respect and say, “Sorry, Cousin.”

-by Bob B (12-30-19)

Little Liam

Little Liam, you sit on my lap

And look at the world with questioning eyes.

What's going on in your little brain?

We adults can only surmise.

Too young to be afraid,

You are now so utterly obsessed

With putting everything into

Your mouth. Is that your litmus test?

At six months old, you probably

Expect to only be pampered and fed.

I doubt you have an inkling about

What adventures lie ahead.

I fear that we are leaving you

A world that's terribly disjointed.

We would love to make you proud

But fear you might be disappointed.

How could anyone hold you and not

Want to protect you to the hilt?

Your curious, trusting eyes, however,

Fill my aching heart with guilt.

All your uncle has to do

Is look into your innocent face

To know that he must fight much harder

To make this world a better place.

-by Bob B (12-22-19)

Sing, Democracy!

Sing, Democracy! Sing your song!

Let your voice be loud and clear.

Resist the onslaught of vicious attacks

On all the values that you hold dear.

Sing, Democracy! Let the sound

Of freedom muffle the sounds of suppression.

Do not cower when threatened by

Corrupt abuse of power and aggression.

Sing, Democracy! Do not let

Extremists stifle your beautiful voice.

When your music overpowers

The sounds of tyranny, rejoice!

Sing, Democracy, louder yet

When voices of ignorance try to subdue

Your song of hope for humanity,

For you know what is honest and true.

Sing, Democracy! Everywhere,

Let truth, honor, and freedom thrive.

But always know that you must be

Vigilant if you want to survive.

Sing, Democracy, lest your voice

Be stifled forever, and all you've known

About the value of freedom and justice

Turns to a whimper and dies with a moan.

-by Bob B (12-18-19)

Favorite Gift

When I was a kid, I couldn't wait

For the arrival of Christmas Eve.

What was hiding in those boxes?

What were we kids going to receive?

A BB gun, a pogo stick,

And roller skates were fun to get.

Games were exciting, as were a nifty

Microscope and erector set.

Through the years, although receiving

Such presents surely gave me a lift,

A gift certificate to Pickwick

Bookshop was my favorite gift.

I don't mind admitting that I

Was probably a nerd--a geek.

Other kids and I were on

Different wavelengths, so to speak.

Dad would drive me to Hollywood,

Gladly, but still always remarking

How it was a nuisance to have to

Drive so far and pay for parking.

On entering the giant shop,

Dad told me to go explore

That fascinating, multi-level

World of words--books galore!

Explore I did. It didn't take me

Long to have my books in hand.

The feeling you get is one that only

A bibliophile would understand.

Pickwick Bookshop's no longer there.

But I am grateful that I had

Those end-of-the-year book adventures

And spending special moments with Dad.

-by Bob B (12-16-19)

Dilemma

The Right bombards Facebook with ads—

Something that’s not rare.

However, lies fill the ads,

And Facebook doesn’t care.

Zuckerberg says that anyone has

The right to advertise.

People, he says, should know how

To tell the truth from lies.

Yes, if they're informed they should,

But if they form their views

From reading only the president's tweets

And watching only Fox News,

Then we have a BIG problem--

A real contradiction--

For how are they EVER going to be able

To separate fact from fiction?

-by Bob B (12-14-19)

Two Worlds

The House impeachment hearings show

How the president's cult divides

America, with legislators

Approaching a problem from different sides.

One side calls on oversight

Of presidential abuse of power

And also obstruction, both of which

Are STILL occurring at this hour.

The other side chooses to

Ignore the gravity of the abuse

And tries instead to distract the public

With arguments, lame and obtuse.

They have decided that they'll defend

Their guileful leader at any cost,

No matter how much damage he's done--

No matter how many lines he's crossed.

What a shame, America!

History shows us what can result

When people either choose or are forced

To be a part of a leader's cult.

-by Bob B (12-13-19)

As Putin Takes a Victory Lap

So Putin helps Trump win an election

And subsequently feels elated.

He is still anticipating

How he will be compensated.

Who are the ones who cheer and clap

As Putin takes a victory lap?

Watching the Trump administration

Blame and distrust the FBI

Also tickles Putin as Trump

Makes it a target to vilify.

Watch Putin cheer and clap

As he takes a victory lap.

When Trump says he doesn't believe

Our intelligence agents here

But eagerly accepts whatever

Putin tells him, one thing's clear:

Trump is willing to cheer and clap

As Putin takes a victory lap.

When Russia starts a conspiracy theory

And blames Ukraine for election meddling,

Many Trumplicans here believe

The devious lies that the Kremlin is peddling.

How can Americans cheer and clap

As Putin takes a victory lap?

When Trump speaks with the president

Of Ukraine and crudely tries to extort

Favors from the Ukrainians

And threatens to pull U.S. support,

Putin supporters cheer and clap

As Putin takes a victory lap.

As here we see a chilling loss

Of democratic values, we

Will ask ourselves whatever happened

To hope and opportunity.

Who then will cheer and clap

As Putin takes a victory lap?

-by Bob B (12-12-19)

Sad Santa (Arctic Poem Part III)

When we last visited Santa,

A sign on which was written "For Sale"

Hung from a post on his property.

It's hanging there still from a rusty nail.

Santa shuffled out to greet us.

Conditions have been taking a toll

On Santa, for it is obvious that

Things aren't going so well at the Pole.

"Welcome back," said Santa, wiping

A little tear from the edge of his eye.

"I wish I could say that things were improving.

Alas, they're not," he said with a sigh.

"The Arctic is warming at such a fast rate!

Believe you me, it's very alarming.

Don't people care about

The habitats that humans are harming?

"Upsetting the balance of nature is having

Disastrous consequences, for now

We are at a tipping point.

How much more will we allow?

"Melting sea ice is making it hard

For animals who need it to thrive.

Polar bears and walruses

Are finding it hard to stay alive.

"A lot of snow and ice up here

Is badly needed to reflect

The sun's energy back into space.

Now we have the albedo effect:

"Water and rock both absorb

Heat from the rays of the sun, which will

Cause even more ice to melt,

Making the earth warmer still!

"Many animals face starvation,

Animals such as reindeer that graze.

As we observe the Greenland ice

Sheet melt, expect bleaker days.

"With the thawing of more terrestrial

Permafrost, methane's released

Into our earth's atmosphere.

Our problems once again are increased.

"I hate to be a buzz kill," he added.

"But my cheerful 'Ho, ho, ho!'

Is turning into a dire warning--

Now it's more of a 'Whoa, whoa, whoa!'

"No one wants this property,

Other than polluters and drillers.

But I refuse to sell to climate

Change deniers or habitat killers."

Mrs. Santa called from the house.

"The missus needs me," he said. "So long.

Tell everyone that Santa needs

A climate change Christmas song."

With that, he turned and left us standing,

Baffled, bewildered, sad, distraught.

Some folks might be fooled by deniers,

But one thing's for certain: Santa's not.

-by Bob B (12-10-19)

O You Hypocrites!

O you hypocrites!

You know who you are.

When it comes to honor,

How you've lowered the bar!

What? Have you no shame?

What’s happened to your pride?

You pretend your actions

Can be justified.

How you love to blame

Others for things you do!

You shun the use of facts

And cherish what’s untrue.

Often what you praise

Is reprehensible;

What you try to defend

Is indefensible.

Has your commitment to truth

Always been a lie?

Has your level of fraud

Always been this high?

Your songs of double-dealing

Echo through the halls.

You hide your smug expression
Behind congressional walls.

Is hypocrisy

What many people might call

One of your job requirements?

If so, you give your all.

After hearing your nonsense

Day after day,

How can people believe

A single word you say?

-by Bob B (11-7-19)

Bootlicker Barr (Part II)

AG Barr's attempt to spin

Conspiracy theories is wearing thin.

He wants to prove the Russia probe's a sham.

Investigations come up short.

They can't debunk the Mueller Report.

But Barr doesn't give a tinker's damn.

That's the president's shining star:

The man known as Bootlicker Barr.

The AG cannot rest, you see,

Until the lackey shows that he

Has a subject he can't fail to broach.

Even though his plan has holes

And serves his partisan political goals,

He insists that Trump's above reproach.

The president has a shining star:

The man known as Bootlicker Barr.

It's sad he's such a sorry cuss.

The AG should be working for us;

The president's personal lawyer he is NOT.

But Trump thinks Barr will save his hide.

So what if neither one has pride.

Barr will be his shining Lancelot.

That's the president's shining star:

The man known as Bootlicker Barr.

Many of us remain nonplussed

At how the AG has no trust

For DOJ employees who work hard.

Instead, he thinks a "deep state" scheme--

A myth he's peddling to the extreme--

Is real and so he has to be on guard.

That's the president's shining star:

The man known as Bootlicker Barr.

Rejecting Congressional oversight,

Barr has taken on the fight

To cover up the president's transgressions.

Barr puts AG Sessions to shame.

Though both have played the president's game,

Barr is ten times worse than AG Sessions.

That's the president's shining star:

The man known as Bootlicker Barr.

-by Bob B (12-6-19)

__________________________

(Original poem: Part I)

BOOTLICKER BARR

The president appointed a man

To help support his nefarious plan--

Something that's so common in these times.

The man became the president's pal

And pushed a bogus rationale

To try to cover up his boss's crimes.

The president's shining star:

The man known as Bootlicker Barr.

An office that should really be

An independent agency

Is one that we call the D-O-J.

But since the president's henchman's there,

The agency's the worse for wear

And grows less independent every day.

Thanks to our leader's shining star:

The man known as Bootlicker Barr.

To bolster a right-wing conspiracy theory,

Barr has started a new inquiry

To investigate the Russia investigation.

Of course, he knows he'll get Fox News

To help support his spurious views

For it’s a peddler of misinformation.

To help the president's shining star:

The man known as Bootlicker Barr.

To try to prove that the Mueller probe

Was a crime, he roams the globe

To find someone to help him prove his case.

He merely shows that he's got gall

And NO integrity at all.

How can he look us in the face?

The president's shining star:

The man known as Bootlicker Barr.

What a stunt--a big distraction,

A sly and furtive counteraction--

As they try to manufacture dirt.

Distractions from impeachment chatter

Is for them an easy matter.

To them it doesn't matter whom they hurt.

Watch the president's shining star:

The man known as Bootlicker Barr.

-by Bob B (10-25-19)

From Vlad to Donald

Dear Donald,

Congratulations. I really like

How you have muddied the waters, my friend.

You keep stressing my talking points

And give new meaning to the word “pretend.”

Not only have you duped your base,

You have your friends in Congress wrapped

Around your little finger, for you

Can lie whenever you feel trapped.

You have worshipers pushing your stories,

Conspiracy theories--the whole shebang.

Just try to polish your storytelling

So that your lies don’t boomerang.

Heaping all the blame on Ukraine

For having meddled in twenty sixteen

In your election helps us both

Advance our propaganda machine.

A weaker Ukraine is good for Russia;

What’s good for Russia is good for you.

Think of all the power we’ll have.

That would be my dream come true.

To me it is a great honor

How you place your trust in me

When your intel agencies

And I happen to disagree.

The way that you obstruct justice

And Congress pleases me as well.

It's right out of my own playbook:

Just tell them all to go to hell.

When you, like me, have total control

Over the media, you're on your way

To being a leader who makes the people

Do what you do and say what you say.

People suspect that I have dirt

On you, but you can rest assured

That all you have to do is follow

My suggestions, and mum’s the word.

Your friend, Vlad

-by Bob B (12-3-19)