Grief Can Kill

Powerful grief can overwhelm us.

It doesn't merely make us feel blue.

At times it's more insidious,

For it is able to kill us, too.

 

Joe and Irma García had been

Married for twenty-four years until

A killer with an assault weapon had

A deadly mission to fulfill.

 

Nineteen elementary students

And two teachers were gunned down

Senselessly, brutally,

In what was a quiet Texan town.

 

Irma was one of the teachers killed.

Two days after his wife had been slain,

Joe dropped dead from a heart attack

Brought about by unbearable pain.

 

Their four kids are orphans now.

May we hold in our hearts today

The memory of Joe and Irma,

Who never should have died this way.

-by Bob B (5-29-22)

When Does Enough Become Enough?

Nineteen children were killed yesterday

In a small Texan town while at school.

Two adults were killed as well.

This is what happens in a land where guns rule.

 

When does enough become enough?

When do we stop being pushed around

By those who stifle our commonsense

Attempts to keep our kids above ground?

 

When do we say "Enough!" to those

Politicians who thrive on donations

By members of the huge gun lobby

Who fight to resist gun regulations?

 

Why don't they see that the Second Amendment

Is NOT a weapons free-for-all?

And yet when it comes to life-saving laws,

Callous, palm-greased lawmakers stall.

 

These deaths are the "price of freedom" some say.

Freedom? No, give me a break!

These deaths are the price of ignorance.

Our children's future is at stake.

 

Today, hundreds of loved ones are grieving.

Their lives will never again be the same.

But will these killings rouse people to action?

I doubt they will, and that's a shame.

-by Bob B (5-25-22)

A Mass Shooting in Buffalo

Hundreds of people are grieving today

Because of a problem that won't go away.

Attempts at solutions are kept at bay.

A mass shooting in Buffalo.

 

America's love affair with its guns--

Weapons that could be measured in tons--

Is killing parents, daughters, and sons.

A shooting--this time in Buffalo.

 

Just imagine: you go to the store.

A killer abruptly appears at the door.

Within minutes you're dead on the floor.

This time it happened in Buffalo.

 

The killer set out to perforate

Bodies with bullets because of hate.

For the ten who died, help came too late

In a mass shooting in Buffalo.

 

Too many people are killed each year.

Not to act makes one thing clear:

We will continue to live in fear.

Look what happened in Buffalo.

 

The bells are tolling repeatedly.

When might they toll for you or me?

When the next killer goes on a spree--

Just like the one in Buffalo…

And Sacramento (2022)…

And Boulder (2021)…

And El Paso (2019)…

And Parkland (2018)…

And Las Vegas (2017)…

And Orlando (2016)…

And Charleston (2015)…

And at Sandy Hook (2012)…

-by Bob B (5-15-22)

Happy National Limerick Day - May 12, 2022

A couple decided to stop

To look for some books in a shop.

Content with just four,

They walked out the door

With Sex After Sixty on top.

 

The wife sat down and read through it.

"Honey," she said, "let's pursue it.

I like the suggestions,

But one of my questions

Is DO you think YOU can still do it?"

-by Bob B (5-12-22)

Where Are the Institutions?

Where are certain institutions

To help those in dire need?

Within our current societal framework,

We can see where their absence can lead.

 

Closing the doors of facilities

Has posed a problem--one that defeats

The very attempt to keep psychotic,

Insane people from wandering the streets.

 

I'm not talking "insane asylums"

Or "snake pits" by any means,

Such as the ones we've seen in the movies

Filled with unforgettable scenes.

 

No, I'm talking facilities where

Patients receive necessary

Psychiatric help, which can

Hopefully be temporary.

 

At least those who are dangerous to

Themselves or others would have a place

To access humanitarian aid.

It's a problem we have to face.

 

Money? Is it all about money

That taxpayers refuse to spend

To build the institutions that

Would help and protect us in the end?

 

Shame on us as a country if

We thoughtlessly choose to overlook

What could be a proper solution

Merely because of our pocketbook.

-by Bob B (5-12-22)

How Many, Putin?

How many more Ukrainian people

Are you going to kill, Putin?

How much more innocent blood

Do you plan to spill, Putin?

 

How many more vicious lies

Are you going to tell, Putin?

How many more atrocities

Will you condone as well, Putin?

 

How many more soldiers committing

War crimes will you praise, Putin?

How many more innocent people’s

Homes will you raze, Putin?

 

How many more agonizing

Cries will you ignore, Putin?

How many more times will you try

To justify your war, Putin?

 

How many times can you look into

The mirror and fail to see, Putin,

The egomaniacal, heartless, cruel

Monster you’ve come to be, Putin?

-by Bob B (5-11-22)

Graduating FROM...

Remember: schools graduate students;

It's NOT the other way around.

Students do NOT graduate schools

But FROM schools. And yet I've found

 

That many speakers confuse the expression,

Turning it around, and hence,

When they say they graduated

A school, it ends up making no sense.

 

Therefore, say you graduated

FROM a high school or college, please.

To say it correctly doesn't take

A great deal of expertise.

 

Schools that graduate many students

Ought to clearly and directly

Teach their students to say which school

They graduated FROM correctly.

-by Bob B (5-9-22)

If I Were a Woman...

If I were a woman, my

Reproductive rights should be

MY business alone, not YOURS.

YOU are not my referee.

 

If I became pregnant through rape,

My voice would be loud and firm:

It’s up to me if what is growing

Inside me should be carried to term.

 

I would not listen to hypocritical

Views about protecting life

From those whose words of shame and blame

Ignore my feelings and cut like a knife.

 

I would not listen to people who

Ignore what should be a woman's right.

And yet to secure this right, women

Always seem to be having to fight.

 

I would seek out expert advice

And weigh the options to do what's best.

I know it wouldn't be an easy

Decision. To that I would attest.

 

No, I'm not a woman, you see.

My name certainly gives me away.

But still I try to listen to

What many women have to say:

 

"You have the right to express your displeasure.

Yes, that would be fair and fine.

But I'll stay out of YOUR insides,

And you, in turn, stay out of MINE."

-by Bob B (5-4-22)