He Calls His Behavior Nice?

During a recent interview,

Donald Trump presented a slice

Of what he would do in a second term.

Before, he said, he was far too nice.

 

Nice? My goodness! If that's what he calls

Being nice, then when he's mean

He will be a thousand times

More obnoxious and more obscene!

 

He says he'll use the military

To round up millions for deportation,

As though hard-working immigrants

Are a serious threat to our nation!

 

Funds appropriated by Congress--

He says---he will refuse to release.

The functions of the office that studies

Possible future pandemics will cease.

 

Our independent judiciary

Soon will be a thing of the past,

For Trump will control the DOJ.

Its role under him will be recast.

 

States will be able to monitor

Pregnancies, he says; what's more,

The number of prosecutions of those

Defying abortion bans will soar.

 

He will deploy the national guard

To any place that he sees fit.

His staff will have to back the Big Lie;

Good riddance to those who challenge it.

 

He plans to gut the civil service.

Loyalty and THAT alone

Will be what he demands of all--

The image for all to bow down to: his own.

 

On hearing Trump's alarming words,

It's really hard to comprehend

That if you love democracy,

How your hair would NOT stand on end.

-by Bob B (5-2-24)

Interconnecting Karmas

We often hear about karma and think,

"My karma is all about me."

And it indeed is personal,

At least to a certain degree.

 

But when we think of all life forms

And how we interact,

Karma's a much, much grander thing--

Unfathomable, in fact.

 

Societies have karma, too.

Let THAT idea gel.

And all the nations on this earth 

Have their karmas as well.

 

Because of causes and conditions

All of us are here,

Inhabiting a planet that

Resembles a giant sphere.

 

What we do affects other people

In ways we can't always know.

And we are currently reaping what

Was sown long ago.

 

But karma, instead of being a system

Of punishment or reward,

Is more just knowing that consequences

Should not be ignored.

 

We can't undo the past; we can't

Change it in any way.

What we CAN be mindful of

Is how we behave today.

 

Therefore, it's incumbent on us

To think everything through.

Mindfulness should always influence

All that we say and do.

 

The karmas of all living things are so

Intricately intertwined,

That trying to understand the connections

Boggles the human mind.

 

-by Bob B (4-26-24)

There's a Scammer Born Every Minute

There's a scammer born every minute!

Every time you turn around

There's someone with a scam.

It's frustrating to always have

A mailbox full of spam.

Can anything be done about it?

Maybe not, so damn!

There's a scammer born every minute!

 

There's a scammer born every minute!

Whether it is on the phone,

An email, or a text,

Or whether they are at your door,

What will they think of next?

The matter makes me furious,

Disgusted and perplexed.

There's a scammer born every minute!

 

There's a scammer born every minute!

How DO they live without a conscience?

That's how they survive.

By lying and deceiving they will

Keep their schemes alive.

Unsuspecting victims are

Their targets; thus, they thrive.

There's a scammer born every minute!

 

There's a scammer born every minute!

Unethical, unprincipled,

Amoral, creepy, vile,

Repugnant, shameless, loathsome, hateful,

They are full of guile.

Sorry, but to see them have to pay

Would make me smile.

There's a scammer born every minute!

-by Bob B (4-21-24)

Oh, Those Nasty Critters!

Preparing the house for fumigation

Isn't fun at all.

But it's also distressful to know

That termites have paid a call.

 

At first there is no evidence.

"Life is grand," you say.

Then you discover that throughout your house

Termites are chomping away.

 

"Eek!" you scream. "Those NASTY critters!

How dare they incommode

This household! Look at how they are

Destroying our humble abode!"

How dreadful that in our sanctuaries

These blasted creatures lurk!

Removing or double-bagging food

Is a lot of work.

Not only food, it's cough drops, meds--

Whatever can be ingested.

That must be taken care of when

Your domicile is infested.

 

If you lived in an igloo, then

You would NOT be dealt

A termite problem, but global warming

Would make your igloo melt.

 

Also, where would you put your router?

Each electronic device

Might not be compatible

Surrounded by all that ice.

 

What about a house of glass?

Maybe that would be good.

A house of steel? A house of stones?

Anything but wood!

 

If all the termites living on Earth--

Parents, daughters, and sons--

Were put on a scale, they'd weigh four hundred

Forty-five MILLION tons!

 

Humans would weigh 350

Million tons if we

Were all put on a scale together.

That would be fun to see!

 

So, you can see that we're outnumbered.

The termites are in command.

Will we win, or will those little

Bugs get the upper hand?

 

If we fail to act right now,

The damage will keep getting worse.

Maybe termites are helpful in nature;

For us they are a curse.

 

Preparing the house for fumigation:

What a pain in the rear!

I can't wait till it's over and we

Can hear the words "ALL CLEAR!"

 

-by Bob B (4-14-24)

Going in Reverse

It's such a disruption to my peace of mind

To witness the plunge of our great humankind.

Amazing potential is what we possess,

But darn it if we are not making a mess!

 

The human attention span's clearly decreasing,

And humankind's selfish demands are unceasing.

Conspiracy theories are way out of whack,

And good education is under attack.

 

Our probing, inquiring, sharp journalism

Is no longer trusted and faces a schism.

Reason is too often stopped in its tracks,

For too many people are falling for quacks.

 

And what about people who don't have a clue

Of being accountable for what they do?

They WILL not admit that they're wrong, and they claim

That other folks ought to be taking the blame.

 

So many people don't listen to reason--

That their form of patriotism is treason,

That storming the Capitol is a real crime

And that those who do it might have to serve time.

 

It also amazes me how an adult

Can fall for a weird personality cult.

Are people so desperate that they'll believe

The lies that their precious cult leader will weave?

 

A lot of folks don't trust the experts who say,

"Tomorrow depends on our actions today."

Such folks don't mind if we keep burning coal;

Renewable energy isn't their goal.

 

And then there are those who will NOT bid good-bye

To Trump's undeniably wacky Big Lie.

It really astounds me how some folks can't see

How dangerous their careless actions can be.

 

They'll trust information that's propagandistic,

And many of them have become nativistic.

Critical thinking has gone down the drain.

Is half of the country now going insane?

 

What--I'll keep asking--will be the solution

For stopping what seems like reverse evolution?

The thought has me feeling a bit ill at ease

That once again we might be swinging from trees.

-by Bob B (4-12-24)

Back to 1864

The highest court in Arizona,

Stuck in 1864,

Just dug up an abortion ruling

Written during the Civil War.

 

Amazingly, the seven judges

Must have found a time machine,

And no, this is not a film

We're watching on the giant screen.

 

The law banning nearly all

Abortions was a barricade

To women's right to choose until

It was blocked by Roe v. Wade.

 

Reflecting the times, the law exposes

Feelings that were deeply rooted.

Physicians who assisted women

Could easily be prosecuted.

 

Hmmm. I wonder where the court's

Time machine will take them next.

Will they soon unearth another

Old, antiquated text?

 

Republicans who might agree

With what the court is doing, now

Are scaling back their rhetoric

In hopes that they'll squeak through somehow.

 

All who champion women's rights

Should honestly be mortified.

Choosing to favor the court's decision

Should be political suicide.

 

Fortunately, a lot of folks

Who've heard the news are having fits.

Take out your sledgehammers

And smash that time machine to bits!

-by Bob B (4-11-24)