Pandemic Fatigue

COVID-19 hasn't left us.

In fact, it's becoming major league

As people grow weary of taking precautions

And slowly give in to pandemic fatigue.

 

It doesn't help when misinformation

Spreads as rapidly as the disease.

The virus doesn't sing just one song;

Over and over it sings a reprise.

 

It also doesn't help when people--

Especially when presidents--

Fail to heed the warnings and keep

Having super-spreader events.

 

Granted, humans are social beings.

But sadly we will pay the price

If our myopia keeps us from making

A necessary sacrifice.

 

You could get the virus and be

One of the lucky ones. It's true.

Mild symptoms could possibly be

The worst thing that happens to you.

 

Or you could have a full-fledged case

That could come with a large price tag

As you succumb to the illness and leave

The hospital in a body bag.

 

Even when there are mild cases,

There have been revelations

That in the future people could have

Unexpected complications.

 

Listen to the experts out there

And not to distracting words of the quacks.

By following simple measures we

Can stop the virus in its tracks.

 

Let's not fall into the trap

And think that the dangers are overblown.

The life you save by being careful

Might not merely be your own.

-by Bob B (10-18-20)

Praise Be...or Else

So, Amy Coney Barrett,

As Trump's newest recruit

To sit on America's highest court,

"Blessed be the Fruit."°

 

You shine through the Republicans'

Hypocrisy, and we

Must bite our tongues as we are forced

To answer with "Praise be."°

 

Your past opinions show how you

Could easily undermine

Individual rights, for there

Is SO much on the line.

 

Clear responses to the senators'

Questions were so sparse

That your confirmation hearing

Was a total farce.

 

It's also very obvious

That your suspicious connections

Will throw into question our

Free and fair elections.

 

The illusion of majority rule

Is slowly being eroded,

As justice for Americans

Has become corroded.

 

How long until there's pressure to

Replace the word "Goodbye"

With the cold and threatening

Expression "Under His eye"?°

-by Bob B (10-16-20)

°Sayings used in the dystopian society of The Handmaid's Tale

Dodging Decorum

I never used to swear that much.

Really. But things have changed.

It's hard to keep from doing it when

One's president is deranged.

 

His constant tweets are maddening.

I really have to admit

That when I read them, I say he's full of

A word that rhymes with "spit."

 

To watch his reckless and smug demeanor

Makes me rather sick.

I can't help thinking he acts just like

A word that rhymes with "trick."

 

When I'm really incensed and feel

He's acting like a schmuck,

Before I can stop it, a word slips out--

A word that rhymes with "duck."

 

As I watch him destroy this country,

A phrase emerges, which

Starts with the word "son" and ends

With a word that rhymes with "twitch."

 

When he lies, my sense of decorum

Is difficult to sustain,

And I cannot refrain from taking

A certain name in vain.

 

When I've lost it, I say that he's--

And I am totally frank--

A blankety-blank, blankety-blanking

Blankety blankety blank.

 

I know that losing one's cool is not

Behavior considered sublime,

But what the heck? The president

Cusses all the time.

-by Bob B (10-15-20)

Deadly Rallies

Typhoid Trump. How he loves

His super-spreaders! Yes, siree!

All the attention from cheering fans

Fills his hungry heart with glee.

 

Heaven forbid he wear his mask,

Even though he's been infected

With COVID-19. He doesn't care

If most of the crowd is unprotected.

 

His Florida friend Ron DeSantis

Saunters past the crowded rows

Of fans, high-fiving them.

Afterwards, he wipes his nose!

 

While experts want to contain the virus,

Trump's theory is let it spread.

His virus-spreading ego trip

Has him dancing over the dead.

 

At rallies all over, the president's team

Support his notion of "herd mentality"°

And speak to unprotected crowds.

What a peculiar sense of reality!

 

Giuliani says people don't

Die from COVID anymore.

Really? Seven hundred people

Died that day. Numbers soar.

 

Ironically, Pence asks the crowd

At a rally for the president

To applaud first responders! What?

While at a super-spreader event?

 

What an odd relationship

Between Trump and his promoters!

It's almost as if the Trump campaign

Is trying to kill its very own voters.

 

-by Bob B (10-14-20)

°Trump meant "herd immunity."

Reinventing the Swamp

Are you perchance a favor-seeker?

Come on in and join the scores

Of those who want a favor from Trump.

You scratch his back; he'll scratch yours.

 

Looking for a federal contract?

Wear a MAGA baseball cap

And patronize the president.

See what suddenly lands in your lap.

 

Perhaps you want an ambassadorship

Or some sort of advisory role.

If so, then be a loyal donor

And maybe you'll achieve your goal.

 

One day you might need a favor.

If you and Trump are somehow aligned,

He will gladly come to your aid

In case you have a pardon in mind.

 

You'll gain from your relationship,

And Trump will gain from your support

As you pour hundreds of thousands of dollars

Into a Trump hotel or resort.

 

What do you need? Laws, funding,

Land, appointments, or maybe directives?

Just send money in Trump's direction

And you can easily meet your objectives.

 

Is it a myth that he's a successful

Businessman--one of those bosses

Who shine in the business world? If so,

Then why is he constantly racking up losses?

 

Ah, but Trump has found a way

To redefine the expression "to drain."

In HIS case it means to use

The Office for financial gain.

 

His promise was to "drain the swamp."

At least, that's how he tried to present it.

But has he really? Not at all.

All he's done is reinvent it.

-by Bob B (10-12-20)

Bow Down to Me, O My People

(This poem can be sung to the melody of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina," by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.)

D.T. from the White House balcony:

 

"To all my fans here, I want to say

That I need all your help and support

If I'm going to survive this outrageous ordeal.

It isn't easy.

Enemies want me to fail--yes, that's true.

Only my loyal supporters

Have known what they all have to do.

 

"For me to keep my power, I had to play.

There were things that I had to distort

To protect all I had and to make me seem real.

I had a mission.

I had to show you that I would come through--

That my people are number one--

While I"--sniff--"am just number two.

 

"Bow down to me, o my people.

You know I don't want to leave you.

The bonds we have here

Are hard to sever.

If you will let me,

I'll rule forever.

 

"Regarding experts, I have my own.

I listen to those who will spout

All the words and ideas to which I subscribe.

If they defy me.

I will see they're brought down, yes, for suffer they will.

Especially all of my friends

Who fear me on Capitol Hill.

 

"Bow down to me, o my people.

You know I don't want to leave you.

The bonds we have here

Are hard to sever.

If you will let me,

I'll rule forever.

 

"Since you're standing here,

There is something I am sure that you can all see:

All the talk out there about my super spreaders

In no way worries me."

 

-by Bob B (10-10-20)

When the Chickens Come Home to Roost

The president stood before the mic

And told the public not to fear--

That things were not so bad--but didn't

Say that he was insincere.

 

He let them think that oh, we have

COVID-19 under control,

As he tried to convince the public

To follow him down the rabbit hole.

 

He found a doctor who was not

An epidemiologist

To spread his propaganda, and he

Allowed the experts to be dismissed.

 

He thoughtlessly invited his fans

To rallies where masks were not required

And thought his obstinacy and his

Insouciance made him highly admired.

 

He scorned those who wore their masks

And knew the virus was a threat,

And when journalists pressed him about

The issue, he'd become upset.

 

Thinking he knew so much more

Than all of the experts, he made sure

That CDC recommendations

Would soften and remain obscure.

All of a sudden, what do we learn?

The president is hospitalized

For having contracted COVID-19.

Is anybody at all surprised?

 

The lesson here: denial does not

Make problems disappear on their own.

Always consider consequences,

For we will reap what we have sown.

Negligence as a strategy

Slowly but surely gives danger a boost

When our actions catch up with us--

When the chickens come home to roost.

-by Bob B (10-4-20)