Shhh!

Shhh! The Trump administration

Doesn't want you to know

One reason why Donald Trump's

Approval ratings are low.

 

What they're doing is very much

A gaslighting technique.

Their talk on tariffs truly is

Political doublespeak.

 

The tariff war that Trump has started

Will NOT raise prices, they say.

Do they realize that we

Were NOT born yesterday?

 

Prices indeed are rising and workers'

Jobs are at risk. What's more,

Small businesses are hurting

As costs are starting to soar.

 

Tourism is slowing down.

Bankruptcies will occur.

Instead of helping businesses, Trump's

A business saboteur.

 

The tariffs are hitting farmers hard;

They don't know how to plan.

It's easy for them to identify

The real bogeyman.

 

If countries want a tariff war,

Trump says we'll defeat them.

Regarding the tariffs, he keeps saying

That China is going to eat them.

 

Whoever thinks that's going to happen

Hasn't been paying attention.

That CEOs are caving in

Is also worthy of mention.

 

But shhh! Don't talk of rising prices,

Or Trump will be irate.

If you upset the king, he will

Want your head on a plate.

-by Bob B (4-30-25)

The Mad King of America

Years ago we threw off the shackles

Of tyranny and built a nation

(Though sadly the previous occupants

Suffered loss and deprivation).

 

We refused to pledge allegiance

To any king; those days were past.

We created a democratic

System that we thought would last.

 

But that has changed. The king is back.

Has history ever seen such a thing:

When the fool--or the court jester--

Slipped into the role of king?

 

It's Mad King Donald who has become

The absolute ruler of this land.

His lackeys lavish him with praise

And blindly obey his every command.

 

The king has become darker, crueler,

And more unstable than ever before.

His rude, sadistic, impulsive actions

Give us the people so much to deplore.

 

Weaponizing information,

Lying to us about our borders,

Repeating Kremlin propaganda,

Disobeying judicial orders,

 

Banishing people to other countries,

Not caring about our health,

Causing economic chaos,

Caring only about his wealth,

 

Completely distorting reality,

And having no empathy, he's the result

Of what happens when millions of people

Join a personality cult.

 

He thinks he has complete power

And no one can tell him what to do.

Bring up truth or reason with him,

And you'll be told "To hell with you!"

 

The tyranny in America

Could end if people gave their all.

Folks all over the world are watching

And waiting for Mad King Donald to fall.

-by Bob B (4-23-25)

A Letter to Aunt Em

Aunt Em received a letter from Dorothy--

A curious one in which she said

That even though she liked it in Oz,

She'd rather be back home instead.

 

Then she told her aunt about

Something she'd never seen on the plains:

A person lacking THREE important

Things: courage, a heart, and brains!

 

"The Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Lion, of course:

Each lacked ONE of those three things.

It's scary to know there's someone who

Possesses NONE of those three things."

 

Aunt Em replied, "I know it's strange

To find someone who lacks all three.

But I'm afraid you're not in Oz;

You’re in Washington, D.C.”

-by Bob B (4-20-25)

(inspired by an anonymous Facebook post)

Who's Next?

You'd better mind your p's and q's

And pay attention to the news

Or you'll be stuck forevermore

In a prison in El Salvador.

 

Trump has made a special deal

With that country, and it's real.

And CECOT° gets Trump's rubber stamp

For being a concentration camp.

 

Deportees are being--you see--

Sent there quite illegally.

Watch out if you have a tattoo,

For Trump might say good-bye to you,

 

And off to the prison you'll be flown,

Down there in the torrid zone.

Forget due process; it doesn't exist

For those on Trump's get-rid-of list.

 

People with even a legal status

Are victims of Trump's apparatus

Of hate and fear and terror and find

Themselves locked up in a real bind.

 

Once you're there, your rights have ceased.

Most likely, you won't be released.

Even if they admit mistakes,

The government says, Hey, that's the breaks.

 

Today deportees; tomorrow who knows

Will join the prisoners. That's how it goes

When autocrats are in control

And total power is their goal.

-by Bob B (4-17-25)

°Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (Terrorism Confinement Center)

Ghosts of Palestinian Children Killed in Gaza

Our spirits hover over the rubble--

Here and there a school or dwelling,

An abandoned camp or a hospital--

Targets of constant Israeli shelling.

 

We see our bodies within the debris--

Along with our siblings, our fathers and mothers,

Doctors, teachers, journalists, medics,

Aid-workers and many others.

 

We see the doctors desperately

Treating the injured with few supplies.

Cries of anguish and pain fill the night

As rockets carry more bombs through the skies.

 

While Palestinians are under attack

And tens of thousands of people have died,

The world wastes its time debating

"IS it or ISN'T it genocide?"

 

"Ethnic cleansing"--whatever you call it--

Is murder on a scale that is grand.

It's Netanyahu's excuse to commit

Atrocities in the "holy land."

 

A fantasy of the "chosen people"?

Thousands of years of tribal strife,

Blood, murder, vengeance, violence…

Lies in the scriptures come to life.

 

Countries supplying Netanyahu

With deadly weapons, have you no shame?

Have you lost your sense of compassion?

In what he's doing, you share the blame.

 

Our spirits hover; our sadness lingers.

We yearn for the madness and killing to cease.

We yearn for an amicable resolution.

Will we be able to rest in peace?

-by Bob B (4-16-25)

Oh, What Will Be Our Fate?

I no longer recognize

These United States.

In my lifetime, we've never been

In such desperate straits.

 

Due process for many folks

Is widely being denied.

We are seeing the Constitution

Being cast aside.

 

The power-hungry president

Constantly tries to extort

Favors from others and threatens them if

He doesn't get their support.

 

The rule of law is currently being

Eroded by the hour

To give the demented president

Authoritarian power.

 

Trumplicans watch him defy the courts,

And they're okay with it.

He could spit in their faces, and yes,

He'd get away with it.

 

He treats the DOJ as though

It's his private firm,

And AG Bondi wants to make

Trump's dissenters squirm.

 

The envy of the world was our

Economy when he

Ascended the throne, but now the mess

He's making is sad to see.

 

He doesn't care if people might suffer

From a Trump recession.

Doesn't he understand that tariffs

Worsened the Great Depression?

 

Trump and his administration

Will not back away

From trying to have control over

What we do and say.

 

His many executive orders are being

Challenged, but he doesn't care.

He derives great Schadenfreude

From other people's despair.

 

"America the Beautiful"

Is now a different song.

It's lyrics must reflect what is

Occurring. Sing along:

 

How sad it is to see this land

Become what it's become!

The president looks down on us

As though we're worthless scum.

America! America!

Please say it's not too late.

Democracy? Autocracy?

Oh, what will be our fate?

-by Bob B (4-12-25)

March Along with Us!

If you listen, you will hear

The sounds of discontent

As the people join together to

Defy the president.

 

We meet to send a message to

The one who would be king,

Who only pays attention to

The sounds that go ker-ching.

 

You'll see us on the sidewalks

And in parks and city squares,

As we say we are tired of being

Controlled by billionaires.

 

The president thinks it's okay

To do whatever he wants.

He knows that Republicans

Will fear his jeers and taunts.

 

Every effort is being made

For people to be erased

From history. The government

Is doing it in great haste.

 

We watch as many people now

Are forced to live in fear.

They try to live their daily lives;

Then BAM! they disappear.

 

They're sent off to prison that

Is in a far-off land.

How people can put up with this

Is hard to understand.

 

The DOJ's being weaponized.

Trump says it's required

That anyone not loyal to him

Be canned, be ousted, be fired!

 

Needless tariffs are raising prices;

People are losing employment.

The pain we suffer seems to add

To Musk's and Trump's enjoyment.

 

Our health's in greater jeopardy;

Our safety's less secure.

If we don't fight, however will

Democracy endure?

 

If you love America,

Speak up! Make a fuss!

No for tyranny! Yes for freedom!

March along with us!

-by Bob B (4-8-25)