Angels in America: a Poem

I heard that seventy-percent

Of people here in a recent poll

Believe in angels, which I find

Very interesting on the whole.

 

It's quite all right if people want

To believe in their hearts that angels exist.

But I admit that I'm a skeptic

And do not want to be on that list.

 

I bet that most believers, however,

Do not think that angels have wings

And sit around in flowing gowns,

Holding their harps and plucking the strings.

 

Angels, spirits, ghosts, and demons

Are interesting and make great stories.

I find them entertaining, and I

Place them in similar categories.

 

Mythological characters

Are fascinating, and I suppose

That from our human collective unconscious

Such fantastical figures arose.

 

Do you believe in guardian angels?

Again, it's perfectly fine if you do.

Mine are doctors, nurses, teachers,

Friends, and paramedics, too.

 

So if I tell you that you're an angel,

You know I mean it figuratively.

It means you're special, and that is something

About which we would both agree.

-by Bob B (7-30-23)

See You in Court, Mr. T!

For far too long Trump has gotten

Away with far too much.

For years, he has thought he is

Someone the law can't touch.

 

As president, he thought he'd get

Away with anything.

Ask the far-right extremists whom

He's taken under his wing.

 

He thinks that running for president

Means his chances are slim

That all the crimes he might have committed

Are going to catch up with him.

 

By yelling "Witch hunt!" and lying he hopes

That prosecutors will cower.

There is nothing I know of that

Can quench his thirst for power.

 

How stupid does he think we are--

Voters here in the States--

When he supports his fake electors?

That's how he operates.

 

In different states he's facing charges.

Watch each news report.

For a number of months he will be

Spending some time in court.

 

Prosecutors, do your work.

Juries, listen hard.

Trump's attorneys will grasp at straws.

You'd best be on your guard.

 

He MUST be held accountable;

If guilty, he should pay.

May the rule of law win out;

May justice win the day!

-by Bob B (7-29-23)

Revising History

Florida's current school standards

Leave a lot to be desired.

In fact, the people responsible

For writing them deserve to be fired.

 

Yes, they do mention the horrors

Of slavery, we'll grant them that.

But what they go on to say is truly

Disgusting. We can smell a rat.

 

The writers suggest that slavery

Wasn't all that bad for some

Enslaved people, for luckily they

Derived benefits therefrom--

 

Benefits from the skills they learned!

Skills! Please, give us a break!

I have heard outlandish statements,

But that one really takes the cake.

That is just like saying that

Concentration camps had frills

Because the Holocaust survivors

Were able to learn survival skills!

 

Enslaved people were ripped from their homeland,

Chained, beaten, murdered, and raped.

Let's not talk of learning skills.

The lucky ones were those who escaped.

 

Beaten if they tried to learn

To read, the enslaved enjoyed no rights.

They were merely property

To make life easier for whites.

 

The only ones who benefited

Were those who sold and owned the enslaved.

Plantation owners and slave traders

Were notably among the depraved.

 

Don't downplay or sugarcoat

Atrocities faced by many a slave--

Atrocities that occurred right here

In "the land of the free and the home of the brave."

 

Teaching revisionist history

Is wrong, for it ignores the truth.

Honesty should be our goal.

Otherwise, we mislead our youth.

-by Bob B (7-25-23)

Doubting Thomas

Thomas could be rude.

The guy was always stewed

And had a reputation in the town.

 

Not much of a thinker,

The wild, rambunctious drinker

Was met by local townsfolk with a frown.

 

He had a couple buddies--

Similar case studies--

Who would often sit with him and drink.

 

It seems they gave their all

To drinking alcohol.

Not a healthy life, do you think?

 

The three of them were single,

So often they would mingle

With ladies who would show up at the bar.

 

But surely you can guess

That their limited success

Resulted from their drunken repertoire.

 

Thomas then confided

In his buddies and decided

That self-improvement meant a different tack.

 

He cut down on his drinking

And applied some wishful thinking,

Hoping he could find he had the knack.

 

As you'd have it, fate

Stepped up to the plate

And brought into the bar a gal named Sue.

 

Thomas took a chance

And asked Sue for a dance--

Something that was hard for him to do.

 

With soda as his savior

And on his best behavior,

Surprisingly, he made a good impression.

 

Dancing through the night,

The couple was a sight,

With Tom avoiding any indiscretion.

 

It wasn't long before

The two walked out the door.

Into the night they slyly disappeared.

 

Four or five months later

The nightclub's nosy waiter

Said he'd noticed something very weird:

 

He said that while eavesdropping

At a store where they were shopping,

He heard them talk of love and other things.

 

While standing there and staring,

He noticed they were wearing

Shiny, flashy, silver wedding rings.

 

The two had gotten married.

No, they hadn't tarried.

Now they could enjoy connubial bliss.

 

But when they both returned

To the nightclub we all learned

From watching them that something was amiss.

 

What had occurred to Thomas?

He hadn't kept his promise:

That he would change his wild, rambunctious ways.

 

It was very clear:

Sue had had it up to here.

She could tell this wasn't just a phase.

 

It went from bad to worse

As though there'd been a curse

Upon their marriage. Wasn't it a shame?

 

One day Sue departed.

Tom was broken hearted,

But he would not accept an ounce of blame.

 

Sometimes people don't--

Or maybe they just won't--

See the errors of their ways and change.

 

Eventually, of course,

Sue filed for divorce,

Which wasn't unexpected or so strange.

 

Thomas cried real tears

And guzzled down his beers,

And after he had reached beer number ten,

 

He'd mention Sue, but we

Knew WHAT was meant to be,

And none of us ran into Sue again.

 

So what then is the lesson?

I won't keep you guessin'.

You can live a good life if you choose.

 

However, if the sauce

Takes over as your boss,

Then use your head and say good-bye to booze!

-by Bob B (7-23-23)

The Ballad of Dangerous Trends

One thing that's hard to escape from

Is social media trends.

People encounter them daily

And then share the posts with their friends.

 

The false information spreads quickly.

The internet boosts it along.

Many susceptible victims

Don't care if the info is wrong.

 

Quacks and unscrupulous people

Everywhere are to be found

Constantly looking for someone

With whom they can find common ground.

 

If you're in the market for snake oil

To grow some hair on your head,

You would be much better off

If you saved your money instead.

 

After the outbreak of COVID

From out of the woodwork we saw

Wackos appear with their cure-alls.

We could see flaw after flaw.

 

You can find charlatans selling

Cures for cancer and shirk

Any responsible notion,

For all those quick fixes don't work.

 

A new trend is spreading on TikTok:

Try drinking borax, they say.

Sprinkle a tad in your water;

Your joint pain will then go away!

 

Borax, a household cleaner,

Has other uses, you see.

Ingest it and you could have rashes

And seizures. No, that's not for me!

 

Dangerous health fads are out there.

Listen to experts who know

How to avoid falling victim

To someone who causes great woe.

 

Whatever you do, don't fall victim

To those who can cause you great woe.

-by Bob B (7-22-23)