Sidin' with Joe

 

(This poem can be sung to the tune of "There's No Business like Show Business" by Irving Berlin.)

 

Let's GO ridin' with JOE Biden

'Cause JOE Biden's a pro.

Four years of the Trumps have been appalling,

Full of scandals, chaos, and despair.

I am sick and tired of Trump's stonewalling.

A second term would be too much to bear.

 

And SO sidin' with JOE Biden

Means YOU already know:

If we want a president who knows the score,

Who knows what the rule of law is for--

The kind of guy who has us coming back for more--

Then let's all vote for Joe!

 

The nonsense, the bluster, corruption, false claims,

The cover-ups that cover up their crimes,

Betrayals, deception, abuses, the games,

The lack of guidance in these worst of times…

The Trumplicans keep trying to suppress

The voters and have made an awful mess.

 

We KNOW sidin' with JOE Biden

Will END four years of woe.

Biden really knows the Constitution

And wouldn't use the White House as a prop.

The Biden/Harris ticket's the solution

If you want the nonsense all to stop.

 

And SO stick it to TRUMP'S ticket;

With JOE'S ticket you'll know

You will find a president who hates deceit,

Who has compassion and does not cheat,

And who won't sit around and watch Fox News and tweet,

So let's all vote for Joe;

So let's all vote for Joe!

 

-by Bob B (8-29-20)

Move Over, Wackos!

 

There always have been wacky people

Looking for an eager ear

To listen to their way-out theories.

Move over, wackos: QAnon's here.

 

So you thought flat-earthers were crazy

Who have no shame in taking a risk

In saying that the shape of the earth

Resembles NOT a sphere but a disc.

 

QAnon is way out there.

Conspiracy theories are their lot:

Like sex-trafficking Satan-worshiping

Pedophiles in a government plot.

 

That Trump was chosen to save us all

Is part of the total insanity--

As though the man hasn't done more

To hurt--not help--humanity.

 

Desperate people use desperate measures.

Trump called a QAnon member a "star."

(When it comes to overall standards,

He knows how to lower the bar.)

 

It's hard to imagine how QAnon

Theories could generate such an appeal.

For people to be so out of touch

With reality is a scary deal.

 

-by Bob B (8-22-20)

Nature's Vow

 

What are we but flames brightly burning?

Conditions coincide, and then voilà!

Our gusto that we have for life--our yearning--

Discloses all those moments filled with awe.

 

What are we but waves upon the shore?

Merging with the constant ebb and flow

Of life until our presence is no more,

As back into the beckoning sea we go.

 

What are we but dewdrops on a rose,

Glistening in the gentle morning sun?

We can ask, but Nature won't disclose

Where we disappear to one by one.

 

Consoling thoughts and words appease us now,

But once we've reconnected with our source,

We become expressed in Nature's Vow

To merge us with the universal force.

-by Bob B (8-13-20)

The D.T. Playbook: Chapter 9 (Securing a Second Presidential Term)

 

When things are looking bleak and your

Polling numbers are way too low,

Apply underhanded tactics

To vanquish your political foe.

 

Slowly dismantle the postal system.

Make the problem acutely systemic

By making it harder for people to vote,

Especially during a deadly pandemic.

 

Attack the system of voting by mail

By making it seem as though it's flawed.

Make your fans believe that it opens

The door to rampant voter fraud.

 

If TV stations run political

Ads that you don't like, subdue them.

Go after the smaller stations

In certain states. Simply sue them.

 

Force intelligence agencies

To bend the truth whenever you can.

Get the DOJ to help you

Muddy the waters: a perfect plan.

 

Continue to seek foreign help

To harm your opponent. Feel no chagrin.

And then stifle investigations--

Anything to help you win.

 

Say that the system is rigged against you

So that your fans will feel disgusted,

And then if you lose the November election,

Election results will NOT be trusted.

 

To hide your gross incompetence,

Sow the seeds of doubt and blame.

Get support from sycophants

In Congress--from those who have no shame.

 

Flout the rules and do whatever
You can to make your critics squirm.

Following all these beautiful tactics

Will help you secure a second term.

 

-by Bob B (8-12-20)

The Wrangler's Last Roundup: For Mick (11/2/1945 - 7/3/2020)

Although the Wrangler has left the ranch,

Within our hearts he'll be enshrined,

For now he's gone to the last roundup,

Leaving the rest of us behind.

 

The sky was the Wrangler's favorite rooftop;

Walls couldn't pen him in.

To him the slow destruction of nature's

Wonders was a cardinal sin.

 

The saddle was his poetry--

His homage to life, a living ode.

When not on his horse, you'd see him riding

His two-wheeled "horse" on the open road.

 

An expert storyteller he was.

How he delighted us with his tales!

His theory: a little embellishment

Never hurts when all else fails.

 

And write! How the Wrangler could write--

Each of his letters a work of art,

A masterpiece of expression, replete

With wit and charm that flowed from his heart.

 

Fishing, hunting, philosophizing,

Photography, and art to boot:

His varied interests, but interest in YOU

Was maybe his greatest attribute.

 

Sometimes when his patience dwindled,

He could lose it, and who could blame him.

His wife, Barrie, had to try

To tug on his reins to try to tame him.

 

A legend in his time, he was--

A striking presence wherever he went.

And spending money to help other

People--to him--was money well spent.

 

Although to the last roundup he's gone,

The Wrangler's lasting imprint survives.

As we say our good-byes, remember

How he enriched all of our lives.

-by Bob B (7-3-20)