Crossing the Rivers of Fire and Water: A Parable*

Picture a traveler, journeying westward,

Having traversed mile after mile

A long road up hills and through valleys

But keeping his focus all the while.

All of a sudden, he encounters

An obstacle and doesn't know whether

He can continue. In front of him,

Two rivers are rushing together:

Extending north a river of water

Such as he had never seen prior

To that day; extending south

A spitting, spattering river of fire.

Dividing the rivers, there is a path--

A narrow one, five inches wide--

The only way for him to get

From one bank to the other side.

"Brigands and wild beasts are behind me,"

Gasps the traveler and lets out a cry.

"If I go back or stay here I perish.

But if I cross the rivers I'll die!"

He looks at the fiery, unending river

Extending south; then he looks north

At the raging, equally endless water

And boldly says, "I choose to go forth."

At times, waves of water surge

Over the path before him. And then

At other times, fiery flames

Scorch the path again and again.

He thinks he hears a voice behind him,

Urging him to keep going on.

Since he hears no other voices,

He wonders where the brigands have gone.

Coming from deep inside him perhaps

Or from the western bank a voice

Gives him greater confidence--

Gives him a reason to rejoice:

"Continue forward, traveler,

Sincere is your heart; single, your mind.

Grounded in right-mindedness,

You can leave your fears behind."

Then from the eastern bank he hears:

"Come back, or you will meet your death."

Offering empty promises,

The brigands only waste their breath.

Determined, our traveler keeps moving forward,

Knowing that all of his fears are groundless,

For once he reaches the western bank,

He is certain his bliss will be boundless.

The person who wrote the parable--

The venerable Shan Tao--explained

The meaning of every symbol therein,

But obviously, I have refrained

From saying too much. I have chosen

A way that's much more roundabout:

If you want to make sense of the story,

It's up to you to figure it out.

(10-31-17) By Bob B 

*Based on the parable by Shan Tao (613-681)

Dear Russia...

Dear Russia, since you're

Already meddling in our affairs,

And seem to have experience

Dealing with slippery billionaires,

Could you maybe take a peek

At Trump's personal IRS files

And share all of his tax returns

With the use of all of your wiles?

People have been asking, but

The man has been disinclined

To share the information with us.

If YOU do it, he shouldn't mind.

For some reason (why could that be?)

A president who loves to barter

Won't do something that was done

By all presidents since Jimmy Carter.

If he has a good excuse,

He should tell us; we're all ears.

The audit excuse doesn't hold water.

And what about all the other years?

If there's nothing to cover up,

There's no reason to fear a chiding.

He's so reluctant to be transparent

That we keep wondering what he's hiding.

And since you in our last election

Were one of Trump's top promoters,

We hope you will help us out.

Yours truly, American voters.

(10-30-17) By Bob B

If Not Collusion, Then What?

The Mueller-led investigation

Continues. Everyone wants to know

If the findings will prove what many

People suspected a year ago.

So much suspicious activity!

So many meetings occurred!

How many shady dealings

With how many people were secured?

We hear that Cambridge Analytica--

The data firm for Trump's campaign--

Reached out to Julian Assange

(Tool of the Kremlin) to obtain

Documents stolen by

A foreign government to attack

Our voting process. And now look:

We're stuck with a megalomaniac!

It sounds very much like collusion

According to every indicator.

What about obstruction of justice?

Oh, well, that came later.

Meanwhile Trump continues to make

False or misleading statements each day

In efforts to bolster his base of support,

Confuse the issues, and lead us astray.

"I'm a very intelligent person,"

He likes to tell us again and again.

(Won't they have fun with that--

The commentators on CNN?)

What is happening defies belief.

The craziness was unforeseen.

Who ever knew the magnitude

Of Trump's propaganda machine?

(10-27-17) By Bob B

Tweetworld

Having a limit of only so many

Characters when you're tweeting

Means that you must be concise,

Which can be self-defeating.

Why so short? Is it that

People don’t delight

In spending too much time reading

Words that others write?

Can you remember the days when TV

Programs could be seen

Without obnoxious tweets being

Flashed upon the screen?

Or when the news was real news

And not simply a lot

Of tweets from viewers watching the program

And saying what they thought?

Who cares what the viewers think?

Just give us the news--

Credible reports filled with

Facts and interviews.

Trump loves his tweets, we know.

Through tweets he vents his wrath,

Although he sometimes comes off sounding

Like a sociopath.

Regarding his attention span,

Would it be so wrong

To say that it is only one hundred

Forty characters long?

Welcome to Tweetworld--a place where

Specifics are obsolete.

And heaven forbid that anything written

Be longer than a tweet!

(10-25-17) By Bob B

The Lesson*

One day a wealthy father

Decides that it is time to give

His privileged son a lesson on

How the poor actually live.

After spending a day and a night

On a poor, humble farm with his son,

The father asks on the drive home,

"How was your stay? Did you have fun?"

"Oh, yes indeed," says the son.

"They're very poor. Did you see?"

Asks the father. The son nods,

Having no reason to disagree.

The father continues: "Tell me what

You learned about being poor."

The son thinks and says, "We

Have only ONE dog; they have FOUR.

"In our garden, we have a fountain;

They have an endless stream that runs by.

Our garden has boring lamps;

They have all the stars in the sky.

"Our property stops at our fence.

To see beyond the garden is hard.

For them, on the other hand,

The entire horizon is their backyard."

The father doesn't know what to say.

Smiling from across the car,

The son says, "Thank you so much, Dad,

For showing me how poor we are."

(10-23-17) By Bob B

*A popular tale retold here in verse

Just Call It Fake News (2)

When critics say what you don't like,

Here's a simple solution:

Call them all untrustworthy,

And you'll get restitution.

Just call it fake news--

No matter what they say.

Help your fans to see that facts

Only get in the way.

Facts are inconvenient, so that's

Why you call them fake.

Acknowledging that you are wrong

Would be a big mistake.

If you play your cards right, then

The people on your side

Will not know or will not even

Care that you have lied.

You can easily spread your lies

To help you reach your goals

With the help of some of Russia's

Finest Internet trolls.

Colluding with other countries can

Also boost your chances

Of building a base of gullible fans

Despite the circumstances.

As long as fans do not see

That they are being played,

And you can turn them against the press,

You have got it made.

Just call it fake news--

No matter what they say.

Help your fans to see that facts

Only get in the way.

(10-21-17) By Bob B

The Bumbler in Chief

During Trump's campaign we saw

How very low the man could stoop

When it came to insulting any

Individual person or group.

The Gold Star family Khan, for example,

Received a heap of Trumpian abuse

As Trump blasted the family with

Insults, childish but profuse.

But even when Trump makes an attempt

To say the right thing, he still bumbles.

His team can pass him the ball, but then

The clueless president still fumbles.

He can have General Kelly

Speak in his defense, but then

On the next opportunity,

He'll stick his foot in his mouth again.

From someone in Trump's position we

Expect much more finesse, but alas!

In the meantime all we can do

Is say to ourselves, "This, too, will pass."

(10-20-17) By Bob B

On Those Who Drop "Christ" from "Christian"

Found all over the world,

And spreading the deadly views

Of hate-mongering preachers

From whom they get their cues,

Unchristianly Christians

Peddle their thou-shalt-nots

And never question the dogma

That slyly poisons their thoughts.

“It has to be right for you,

Since it's right for me.”

That’s what most of them think

Who judge to the nth degree.

If your beliefs are different

Or vary from theirs, forget

Heartfelt understanding;

You're too much of a threat.

Other religions, too,

Are certainly not exempt

From dangerous fanatics

Whose actions draw contempt.

Twisting the sacred scriptures

To suit their misinformed needs,

They act without perceiving

The shallowness of their deeds.

People are ostracized

And even lose their lives

When shameful ideology

Or noxious ignorance thrives.

And hypocrites abound.

We often hear of them—

The ones who criticize others,

Then do what they condemn.

How sad it is when people’s

Actions demonstrate

How little they love to love

But how they love to hate!

(10-19-17) By Bob B

"Unhinged"

People say Trump is "reckless," "unhinged,"

"Consumed by his dark moods,"

"Unfit," "unstable" and that he's like

A "tantrum-throwing child" that broods.

He's "unraveling," "losing a step…."

He's "dangerous for the country," too.

"Deteriorating on the job"

Has been said by more than a few.

White House staffers must protect him

From himself. And SO much

Chaos exists, that some say he

Has the "reverse Midas touch."

When he's behind a teleprompter,

The man sounds less obtuse.

But when he speaks off the cuff,

My goodness! all hell breaks loose.

So has the White House now become

An adult day care center? How sad!

Bush 2 is probably thinking,

"And YOU thought that I was bad!"

(10-12-17) By Bob B

A Tangled Web All Right!

Vladimir Putin had nothing to do

With THIS poem. Let me be clear.

(Nowadays it's hard to tell

How much the Russians interfere.)

Oh, of course, he could assign

An Internet troll to try to denounce me--

To criticize my rhythm and rhyme,

To shame, condemn, or verbally trounce me.

But Putin, alas, has many more

Important matters to address--

How to influence American elections

And cause confusion, more or less.

Long ago many Americans

Were troubled by the "Red Scare."

Now they welcome with open arms

This autocratic billionaire

Who stifles dissent, stomps on rights,

And benefits from corruption as well.

How many opponents has Putin

Disappeared? Hard to tell.

How people see the things they see

Is strangely and fearfully odd--

How they perceive a leader's illusion
And miss the monster behind the façade.

As more experts connect the dots,

They are wondering what protections

Can be implemented to stop

Outside meddling in future elections.

To quote Sir Walter Scott, "Oh,

What a tangled web we weave…."

How much more interference

Does Putin have up his sleeve?

(10-10-17) By Bob B

Fifty-nine Dead; Hundreds Wounded

Fifty-nine victims have died so far--

Children, lovers, husbands, wives,

Parents, siblings, cousins, friends….

Fifty-nine have lost their lives

To senseless violence: a mass shooting

In Las Vegas--a night of hell.

And nearly 500 people

Attending the concert were wounded as well.

Read their names; read their stories.

They're the innocent; they're the ones

Who faced unspeakable horrors that

Occur when madmen have access to guns.

No, not merely access to guns,

But access to bump fire stock devices.

Does the "right" to such contraptions

Justify human sacrifices?

Are we surprised at the reaction?

In many a weapons showcase room

Or online site there has been

A bump stock sales boom!

At one time many people thought

That Sandy Hook would be the last straw.

Then came Orlando, and now Las Vegas.

Somewhere there's a serious flaw.

Donors grease the politicians'

Palms; lobbyists state their demands.

I would NOT want to be

A politician with blood on my hands.

(10-7-17) By Bob B

And Another Hypocrite Bites the Dust

Tim Murphy° of Pennsylvania--

Proud of his anti-abortion stance

And long-time anti-abortion record--

Was caught doing a different dance:

Murphy's former mistress wonders

How the man has reconciled

His pro-life pretensions while also wanting

Her to abort their unborn child.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, Mr. Murphy.

But maybe the cloud has a silver lining

When you step down from your position,

For word is out that you're resigning.

Oh, you hypocrites! You love to decide

What's good for other people. How true!

But you do what you damn well choose,

For rules do NOT apply to you!

(10-6-17) By Bob B

°Congressman from Pennsylvania's 18th District

Poem 600

This poem is number 600

Of poems I have "published" on the Web.

My steady enthusiasm for writing

Poetry hasn't started to ebb.

That's six hundred since the spring

Of the year twenty fourteen. Okay,

I know I sound like a chatterbox,

But I thought I had a lot to say.

The process is electrifying:

It happens after I immerse

Myself in an ocean of thoughts and feelings

And out pop my comments in verse.

There's always something to write about--

Something to question, discuss or explore.

Some might say, "Enough! Enough!"

While others say, "Give me more!"

I've always admired a great poet

With a facile tongue and a flowing pen.

I'll never be a Shakespeare or Milton,

A Wordsworth, Keats, or Shelley, but then

That's not important. I'll still write poems.

If one of them strikes a chord that will be

Nice; but if a poem falls flat,

All I can say is, "C'est la vie!"

If there is a lull in my writing,

Do not fret, for goodness' sake.

I probably haven't kicked the bucket;

I'm probably just taking a break.

(9-5-17) By Bob B

Information War

Fact-checking is meaningless if

People have no respect for facts.

Just watch social media and you

Will see how the public reacts

To natural disasters or shootings.

Conspiracy theories quickly abound

And suddenly the Internet is

An information battleground.

Knowing the truth no longer gives us

A feeling of calm or a sense of relief,

Since few people have an incentive

For altering a false belief.

Experts say our psychological

Weaknesses are targets for those

Who spread misinformation for

Ideological ends. These pros

Know how to use the media well.

Their credibility's merely a ruse.

And suddenly the falsehoods are

Amplified all over the news.

Hacks and kooks and fringe group crazies

Have been around forever; it's true.

If there's a chance to spread their lies,

They do not miss a cue.

Fringe groups going mainstream. Yikes!

That's a recipe for disaster,

Especially when a gullible public

Eats up the nonsense faster and faster.

Orwell's 1984

For many years made us wary.

The year twenty seventeen

Is also looking damned scary.

(9-3-17) By Bob B

The Encounter

While on my walk I spied a flower

With huge petals, ruffled, yet tender:

A dazzling yellow-gold hibiscus,

Glowing with majestic splendor.

I couldn't help but stop and stare

At its striking beauty and gentle grace.

Not to acknowledge such elegance

Would definitely be a disgrace.

As I gazed upon the bloom,

I heard a quiet voice that said,

"They say it isn't nice to stare,

But go ahead…go ahead.

"Most people walk right by.

They see the flowers on the plant,

But their true ability

To grasp what they see is scant.

"Can you see me for who I am--

My individuality?

Or do all blooms appear as an

Anonymous totality?

"Yes, it's true that all of the flowers

Create a lovely impression together.

Think of gardens teeming with roses,

Fields of daisies, or hills of heather.

"But can you see my unique nature--

The deep essence of my being?

Am I more than merely one

Of many? Tell me what you're seeing."

Speechless, as though in a trance,

I stared awhile, then walked away,

Pondering every meaningful word

The beautiful flower had to say.

(9-1-17) By Bob B

Heat Wave

A heat wave has hit.

While some people are boasting

About their cool air,

In our house we're roasting.

Fans help a little.

But frankly I have found

That all they tend to do

Is blow hot air around.

People say, "Be cool!

No reason to fret."

Easy for them to say.

I hate to sweat!

I have to tell myself

If I'm crabby and terse,

That I should feel lucky.

Things could be much worse.

A wise man once said,

"Here's some food for thought:

When it's cold, be cold;

When it's hot, be hot."

Wise words, I thought.

I'll apply them now,

As I downed my water

And wiped the sweat from my brow.

Still, when winter comes,

I know my thoughts will teeter,

And you'll be sure to find me

Shivering by the heater.

(8-31-17) By Bob B

Dreamers in America

Providing strength in diversity

And beautiful variety,

Like strands of gold woven into

The fabric of society,

Our Dreamers here greatly enrich

American communities.

How callous it would be to close

Doors to opportunities!

Their contributions to our country

Should NOT be disregarded,

Buried in forgetfulness,

Ignored, or even discarded.

They didn't come here on their own;

Their parents brought them here.

Whatever the reasons for the move,

One thing is clear:

Brought here at an early age,

They grew to look ahead

And now have fewer ties to

The countries that they fled.

You might be an American

Citizen, but do

You understand that Dreamers are

As American as you?

(8-30-17) By Bob B

The Tip of the Iceberg

When we see the tip of the iceberg,

One thing that we know

Is there is more--much, much more--

Iceberg down below.

The moon shines on the tip of the iceberg

Creating a silvery sheen

Of gossamer, or sometimes even

A heap of velveteen.

Beating down on the mountain of ice,

The rays from the glorious sun

Melt the surface. But in the meantime,

Damage can be done.

If you approach the iceberg, you

Approach what's "forbidden."

The dangerous part is not what you see,

But rather the part that's hidden.

The shadowy base of the floating mountain

Hidden from your view

Murmurs, "If you get too close,

There's a surprise for you."

The monolithic, towering berg

Will melt eventually,

And gone will be the dangers that

We weren't supposed to see.

Until it melts, be attentive.

Don't be deceived

By bluster and appearances

Not to be believed.

(8-29-17) By Bob B

English: Fun Fun Fun

Isn't English fun to learn--

Especially spelling and pronunciation?

It's hard enough for native speakers

And is the cause of a lot of frustration!

Think of female deer, does,

And then the form of do, does.

Consider the a-s found in as

And how it is pronounced in was.

We have ears on our heads.

Add a b and you've got bears.

There's also e-a-r in earth.

And a funny e-i found in heirs.

Look up and see a star.

Add an e and you've got stare.

That is not so hard perhaps.

But why does stare rhyme with where?

Say is easy to say, all right.

But add an s and you've got says.

But if you add an s to hay,

You do not pronounce it hez!

Back to where, which rhymes with air.

But look at the e-r-e in sphere.

I before e except after c…

But what about the weird word weir?

Tough and though are always fun.

Then there's through and ought and drought.

Don't forget to drop the b

When you say both debt and doubt.

Throw in apostrophes,

And English teachers really have fits

When they are used for writing plurals

Or when it's is used for its.

Forget all the silent letters

In words like write, knot, and pneumonia.

If you said, "I made the rules,"

I'd have to say, "I disown ya!"

It wouldn't work to try to write

All the words phonetically

For Easterners and Southerners

Don't say all the words like me.

For many years I've been around English--

Hearing, speaking, discerning it,

Exploring its countless nuances.

I guess I'll always be learning it.

(8-28-17) By Bob B

Selling/Buying Snake Oil

Watch as Republican members of Congress

Hammer out the specifications

For tax cuts favoring the rich, along with

Giant cuts for corporations.

Though economic inequality

Reaches scary, outlandish extremes,

A system rigged against the majority

Shapes the politicians' dreams.

Bogus studies, lobbyists,

And lavish campaign contributions

Sway our politicians' efforts

To come up with taxation solutions.

Tax havens, loopholes, and dodges

Are great for you if you are rich.

When you can avoid paying taxes

On profits abroad, you've found your niche.

If our taxation system doesn't

Force people to pay their fair share,

Education and social security

Will suffer, along with Medicare

And Medicaid. If that happens,

It's not difficult to foretell

Who will benefit most and who

Hasn't got a chance in hell.

Do members of Congress care about us?

I have to say that it makes my blood boil

To watch them sell what some people call

"Supply-side snake oil."

Buy the snake oil if you choose to.

Unless you're rich, you'll regret it.

The system can screw us royally,

But ONLY if the voters let it.

(8-27-17) By Bob B

Passing Out Pardons

The president has caused a stir.

OH-ME-oh-MY-oh.

He has pardoned Arizona

Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

A man convicted of criminal contempt

Of court enjoys impunity.

He violated civil rights

At every opportunity.

Refusing to follow an order of the court,

He's a man who fudges

When it comes to obeying laws

And listening to judges.

The practice of racial profiling equals

Clear discrimination.

It looks as though it also wins

Trump's approbation.

He has called the bigoted sheriff

A "selfless public servant"--

A ludicrous description to

Those who are observant.

Is this one of many pardons

That Trump extends

To others as he pardons his

Family and friends?

Thumbing your nose at law and order--

OH-ME-oh-MY-oh--

Happens when you pardon crooks

Like Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

(8-26-17) By Bob B

Afghanistan

Karma is a bitch, they say.

We still resist having to learn

That our missteps have negative

Results that will happen in turn.

Afghanistan, in 1919,

Drove out the British. A definite win

For the landlocked nation. Sixty years later--

In '79--the Russians moved in.

We armed extremists to fight the Russians.

Now, how could that strategy not

Be effective in the long run?

No skin off our teeth, we thought.

The Russians left. Our job was over.

Afghanistan was in disarray.

Our lack of support for a country in shambles

Surely helped to pave the way

For the Taliban to take control.

Anti-American sentiment grew.

The country became a terrorist haven.

It's useless for us to wish it weren't true.

For the past sixteen years American

Soldiers have fought an ongoing war

Against extremists throughout the country.

The consequences are hard to ignore.

We’ve been stuck in a vicious circle--

A deathly quagmire--a living hell.

To send more troops to a war we can't win

Is not an easy program to sell.

Have all avenues been considered?

Could the region ever be able

To find a peaceful solution by getting

All parties to come to the table?

We've gotten ourselves in a situation

Where little goes according to plan.

Must more people die or be injured

From fighting in Afghanistan?

(8-24-17) By Bob B