the next war

dissecting CyberCom from NSA
Obama seeks a structure that makes sense
a tidy ship, with all gear stowed away
to garner trustworthy intelligence
combatants--to be lawful--are constrained
to battlefields, if not face-to-face
our killer spies, like Russia's go unreined
and someone's got to put them in their place
non-prosecution's a bad precedent
but no one's called our torturers to heel
I'm pretty sure that's not what our courts meant
but Trump thinks law's a crock; he'll cut a deal
O brave new world! our arms are obsolete
the software revolution's now complete

Vendee Globe '96

Dinelli flipped; his boat's a total loss
the seas run high; his odds are looking grim
his life hangs in the hands of Peter Goss
who'd have to pound upwind to rescue him
unhesitating, Goss received the news
he brings the helm around to join the chase
a fellow sailor's life's too much to lose
'though  strangers, they're still bonded by the race
a boat that's built for one's quite snug for two
and pointing up's not what this hull's carved for
he did the only thing a man could do
a Shackelton could not have asked for more
an ubermensch despite his human size
the hero's journey's not about the prize

subjective time

each Summer flits past briefer than the last
as if we're whirling faster 'round the sun
but it's not heaven's clock that's running fast
our spring, with passing time, becomes unsprung
as mass is spent producing energy
our angular momentum wastes away
those photons pilfer our patrimony
the force-constant is lessened, day by day
and yet, subjectively, it's just not so
we slip leap-seconds in because we must
compared to languid days mere years ago
these latter decades leave us in the dust
entropic death by increments arrives
a cosmic metaphor for dwindling lives

unlinked

the sage of Amherst rarely left her home
depression often kept her pent in bed
like Proust, it's just her mind that got to roam
the life she lived was mostly in her head
but for her writings, did she live at all?
was she an avatar in someone's game?
existing only on a Facebook wall
with no biology behind the name
her correspondence bridges time and space
a virtual community through books
she'll never meet her fan-base face-to-face
and they can only guess at how she looks
for Dickenson, a spindly web of ink
provided her her only human link

Rasputin

Reince Priebus means to co-opt Donald's win
by whispering suggestions in his ear
the boss' grasp of policy's so thin
by staying close enough, he hopes to steer
each party backed a loser in this fight
the millions spilt on Jeb can't be called back
to salvage victory for the far Right
he'll have to mount a subterfuge attack
by vetting names for Trump to nominate
he's put his imprint on the ruling set
each one's acceptable, 'though none are great
for his conception of a cabinet
while Donald boasts the triumph's all his own
I'm worried by the tool behind the throne

side by side

two nations struggling in one narrow womb
begin the narrative of Toledot
stark competition for the finite room
who gets the pasturage, who gets the vote
the same law binds your stranger and your king
if you're to build a kosher Jewish State
it's all about the Justice, not the bling
and no one buys your PR that "it's great!"
a single state from Jordan to the sea
would have to disenfranchise half the folk
a shabby parody of Herzl's dream
replays the prophecy as bitter joke
the TwoState pact ben-Gurion endorsed
to get to Peace, will have to be enforced

roll them dice

the mind of Dilbert warned that Trump could win
he's not impressed with our intelligence
the mechanisms we put such faith in
produce results that often make no sense
when polled, Americans judge him unfit
to fill the office Reagan did before
our next four years--at best--will look like shit
at worst, he'll launch a planet-scorching war
Ivanka sometimes keeps him on a leash
six days in seven, mostly keeps him calm
until the House steps forward to impeach
we'll live in fear each day he'll drop a bomb
farewell due process! now it's one-man rule
entrusting our whole species to this fool

that first step

to be a scientist, one first believes
reality--objectively's--out there
'though memory, like senses oft deceives
induction's less substantial than the air
but having made that leap, what realms unfold!
from astrophysics to zoology
transmuting unlinked data into gold
as they cohere to sketch ontology
forever keeping track of what's unknown
while seeking out new problems to explore
what doesn't falsify may further hone
hypotheses that point to something more
the simplest rule that all the data fit
if not the Truth--for now--must stand for it

so many data, so little knowledge

the spooks resist releasing evidence
that compromises agents in the field
but we're suspicious of intelligence
from source so inclined to wheel and deal
the CIA that libeled Aristide
and threw Allende underneath the bus
is not reliable as a newsfeed
the've zero credibility with us
to use the scoop--they warn-would tip our hand
and might lose assets hard to cultivate
but sovereigns need facts at our command
once votes are cast, the insights come too late
the vast black budget lavished on our spies
is wasted if we can't sift out their lies

fifteen minutes

new Ozymandias bestrides the stage
America's elected potentate
a surfer on the wave of unschooled rage
convinced his ev'ry brain-fart smells just great
Trump seems to think that what we need's a king
to slap his name on ventures everywhere
like Vegas, only with a lot more bling
and constitutionalists taste despair
Reince Priebus hails him as the Chosen One
who'll fill our Treasury, and pay off debt
but those who study deals the Donald's done
will understand he hopes the banks forget
his honeymoon will burn out in a flash
when even DeutscheBank wants cold, hard cash

vayeshev

had Potiphar believed what his wife said
the story would have ended, then and there
far worse than prison, Yosef would be dead
for such an extra-marital affair
instead, he fell to rise to greater heights
new clothes, new name and an Egyptian wife
and if he practiced private, foreign rites
he owed the Pharaoh everything in life
well-placed to help his brothers in a bind
although they thought him safely in his grave
to test their mettle, he let them stay blind
until he deemed them changed enough to save
Yehudah'd done teshuvah as a man
who'd sold him to that passing caravan

vayeshev

bat-Shua bore Yehuda short-lived sons
who sired no grandsons to enlarge the clan
he had to show them how the deed is done
the tribal staff's upheld by just one man
the mamzer twins got nations of their own
while their half-brothers languished by the Nile
the lines that would rejoin in David's throne
must go their sep'rate ways for quite a while
a plea to reunite the kingdoms twain
as Yosef wields the powers they once had
whom they'd betrayed when he was but a swain
Yehuda invokes memories of dad
'though sire and son went in to the same girl
their seed begot Moshiach for the world

garden of branching paths II

the metaphoric woods of Robert Frost
evoke the start of Dante's Comedy
each path not taken is a cosmos lost
potential worlds that never come to be
a chance encounter on a plane, or walk
might introduce a nemesis, or wife
predictions are too often empty talk
there is no certain foresight in this life
two paths diverge, and I can't take the twain
unlike a photon, I'm constrained to choose
decisions now, in hopes of future gain
inseparable from the chance to lose
that darkness in the woods Frost dimly saw
for Heisenberg, achieved the force of law

the garden of branching paths

the metaphoric woods of Robert Frost
evoke the start of Dante's Comedy
each path not taken is a cosmos lost
potential worlds that never come to be
a chance encounter on a beach, or plane
might introduce a nemesis, or wife
predicting ev'ry consequence is vain
there is no certain foresight in this life
two paths diverge, and I can't take the twain
unlike a photon, I'm constrained to choose
decisions now, in hopes of future gain
inseparable from the chance to lose
that darkness in the woods Frost dimly saw
for Heisenberg, achieved the force of law

poorly-educated

For want of values, Trump relies on price;
one number represents all things on Earth.
A one-D system that cannot suffice
to weigh a counselor's, or plan's true worth.
His cabinet owns half a continent
and sees high office as a path to more.
Strange "public servants" who'd be quite content
to turn a profit sending kids to war.
The Wharton years were wasted on this creep
no education swelled his head, or heart.
Beyond arithmetic, it's all too deep
for one so smugly certain he's so smart.
For those with eyes, catastrophe's on tap
Trump's navigating by a pre-school map.

tag-line

Santorum froths, and barks out "man on dog!"
when he's aroused by fantasies, or news.
But voters chose the Orange demagogue
who--rightfully--should have gone on to lose.
When Hillary clipped Bernie at the gate--
preferring that the voters never learn
the deeper issues beyond whom to hate--
shut up and voter for her, 'cause it's her turn!
Political discourse has been debased
and sexual assault's been waved aside
the Donald means to lay the Blue States waste
unless they own an island, none can hide.
More GoldmanSachs is what the planet gets
in some small part, that's due to Rick's Tourette's.

other maps

our  coprophilia must mystify
the dogs whose poop we scoop like some rare gem
they're quite content to squat and let it lie
out motives are inscrutable to them
and whales can't dream that we don't comprehend
how sound reflects from mackerel, or krill
the characteristics that make it bend
to them are utterly run of the  mill
and what's reality's map among eels
who sense the lifeforce sure as Obi Wan
their flesh and neurons coupled to the fields
that propagate where light of sun is gone
however much one might philosophize
you can't know what's behind another's eyes

post-truth

confronted with his lies, Trump doubles down
as if the truth will bend to suit his will
and now we've handed power to this clown
to execute our laws, make war, and kill
the demagogue our Founding Fathers feared
in their minds, would rise from the toiling class
we got blindsided by something so weird
a military-schooled gold-plated ass
the 25th amendment shows a way
that Donald could be ousted by Mike Pence
the cabinet must find the spine to say
that they're convinced of his incompetence
I fear for our republic in this age
when facts are less important than brute rage

carpe diem

the Past is known, our tracks are plain to see
the Future's dark to any mortal eyes
each branch point's rich in possibility
among which we get to extemporize
forever gazing into the unknown
extrapolating from what's been before
each mind's a helmsman on dark seas, alone
far out of sight from any friendly shore
the Present's all we've ever really got
what's gone before permits us now no role
what's yet to be may come to pass, or not
and only fools believe they're in control
yet all of it--from horror to sublime--
is bounded in the days of one lifetime

civic burden

the rhythmic rasp of shovels on concrete
responds to snow new-fallen in the night
the neighborhood converges in the street
this job can't wait until it's fully light
debates abound as to the perfect tool
but steel or plastic, backs bend to the work
the children need a path to walk to school
the common task that no one gets to shirk
as Norman Rockwell  might depict the scene
if he explored a work in monochrome
the trees are bare, snow cloaks the evergreen
the streetlamps barely reach the nearest home
'til spade-work yields to electricity
ennobling labor builds community

solstice

at perihelion, clenched in Winter's grip
the sun--'though close--is impotent to warm
our axis of rotation has a tip
it doesn't meet the sun's plane at the norm
this solstice, photons graze our planet's face
where energy and matter get to meet
the solar flux skids mostly into space
without delivering a lot of heat
but pause to think of the Antarctic night
when we're admiring bodies at the beach
unbuffered by a sea, devoid of light
our orbit's at its unenlightened reach
this week, we pass the bottom of the trend
as calendars denote the Autumn's end

neo-isolationist

Narcissus gazes at the evening news
to hear the well-coiffed talking heads dissect
his every utterance as if his views
on trade or immigrants deserve respect
the donors thought that we'd give Jeb a turn
as dummy posed on their corporate knee
like after Dubya we're too dumb to learn
the lessons of our recent history
the demagogue won't toe their party line
as if all academe were in cahoots
a futile tariffs arms-race chasing fines
not seen since we recanted Hawley-Smoot
protectionism's bitter lesson's spurned
and working fam'lies everywhere get burned

dillettante

Trump hires the ones he thinks are not too smart
who won't speak out on what they've seen him steal
acclaiming his fresh lies as if they're art
as if his highest goal's to cut a deal
the confirmation battles loom ahead
each one's less competent than is the next
by now, the Senate staffers have re-read
just what "consent" entails in our core text
the Kremlin's favorite's ill-prepared for State
when carbon's got to be left in the ground
the Exxon stock-price and the planet's fate
if we're to have a chance, must not be bound
Trump's ego-driven need to keep control
presents a peril to our nation's soul

blinkered

our Ship of State's careening toward the ditch
'cause Trump's so proud he thinks outside the box
restricting nominations to the rich
the henhouse has been captured by the fox
strange Public Servants fail to understand
the plight of those who toil to eat each day
they look for inspiration to Ayn Rand
for whom a "tax" is what the peons pay
bizarre cabal, united in their guilt
cast off our safety net to woo this ass
the regulations Teddy Roosevelt built
to grow our country and its middle class
Trump's cabinet's stocked from the bottom shelf
he'll name no one who's smarter than himself

time's up!

the Kremlin's foreign funds are running out

it's petro-exports keeping it afloat
the time's long past to turn this trend about

while those who can, have fled the sinking boat
some who remember Lenin's grand return
see Khodorkovsky London flat exile
and dream that he'll come back before they burn
the furniture to stay warm for a while
new revolution's long-time overdue
to save the workers from their desp'rate plight
the State made billionaires out of the few
condemns the millions to starve in the night
'tho Russian military may be great
malgovernance may yet seal Putin's fate

Press failings

that Donald lies compulsively's not news
and even when confronted, won't confess
he baldly finds a new way to abuse
the media to comp him more free press
his circus-stunts keep talking-heads enthralled
dissecting his opinions like they're facts
or speculating if he's really bald
and broadcasting releases from his hacks
the quest for balance harps on Clinton's flaws
'though she's been scrutinized for thirty years
comparing the two should provoke guffaws
if half the country weren't wracked with tears
Trump's bubble should have popped at last, last Fall
had journalists remembered they have balls

unstatesmanlike

aspiring autocrats try to suppress
the mere idea they shouldn't grace the throne
and Freedom of Assembly, or the Press
seems dangerous for citizens to own
 a citizen asserting civil rights
expecting that his government pay heed
is apt to disappear one of these nights
with no investigation of the deed
the age of Putin, Trump, and Erdogan
twelve score years human progress gets rolled back
assaults on Universal Rights of Man
Enlightenment itself's under attack
who dares speak Trumpelthinskin's proper name
gets tweet reprisals thick with unearned blame

our monster

our Founding Fathers feared democracy
in time succumbs to its inherent flaw
devolving into strongman tyranny
a demagogue contemptuous of law
twelve score of years, it's worked despite their fears
our checks and balances kept us upright
but Gingrich threw a wrench into those gears
to bend our course to what he thought was Right
his Golem, Donald scoffs at paying tax
or settling debts his contracts say he owes
"reality" for him's not tied to facts
he's proud of what he's got, not what he knows
he treats our constitution like a rag
but wraps his fascist ravings in our flag

ukase

the purge of scientists is just the start
when autocrats establish top-down rule
we take the Stalin precedent to heart
remembering Lysenko was a tool
the science can't be bent to his decree
Karl Rove can't dictate what is, and what's not
Trump's not the master of reality
once off the sound-stage, Arctic's getting hot
twelve million starved to prove Lysenko wrong
crops don't evolve to suit the boss' whim
most botanists had known it all along
but dead men never contradict Trofim
deniers who enjoy the Donald's ear
eschewing Science, put their faith in Fear

impunity

The tales he tells, of sexual assault
don’t seem a problem to the Donald’s fans
they’re sure it’s always women who’re at fault
provoking passion in a blameless man
to drive and shop with hair and lips unveiled
convinces them of women’s bad intent
a Golden Age, where sharia prevailed
they’re sure is what our Founding Fathers meant
misogyny’s in vogue, from apex down
ACLU’s rocked backwards on its heels
the cabinet empowered by this clown
is less concerned with rights than cutting deals
no prosecutor dares to charge this ape
who boasts that he could get away with rape

failure of planning

commuters going nowhere fill their days
redriving night and morning the same miles
their youth and joy receding in the haze
that sanitizes college kids’ lifestyles
selective memory confers a glow
on what seemed ordinary at the time
a diff’rent outlook all those years ago
knew pleasure didn’t have to cost a dime
expensive cars can’t wholly block the pain
as crossroads that held promise fade behind
ambitions all dissolving in the rain
‘though out of sight, not wholly out of mind
the steering wheel chafes at his sagging gut
as he learns to abhor life’s worn-out rut

lore

the alchemy of hollandaise, or roux
makes colloids comprehensible to some
but for a scientist, like me, or you
that's not the way the explanations run
hypotheses are falsified, or not
that map a pattern to the dataset
explaining why a sauce grows thick, when hot
and why your roast won't brown while it's still wet
to melt a crystal and produce a glass
or use Maillard to brown a joint of meat
manipulating charge, and heat, and mass
a sugar caramelized need not be sweet
the kitchen arts are mostly chemistry
but more books sell when it's "gastronomy"

parlous

Trump barters tax-breaks to keep factories
and instantly, he's out-classed, eyebrow-deep
employers threaten to move overseas
'cause Other People's Money feels so cheap
an amateur who plays at being tough
can't bribe each corporation down the line
when even Sarah Palin calls your bluff
a better man would recognize the sign
Beijing could find another instrument
instead of U.S. bonds for debts it holds
and Trump could find the U.S. government
with credit like his own, out in the cold
a novice helmsman for our Ship of State
is casting dice for our whole planet's fate

amateur-in-chief

when Sarah Palin's take on policy
if not insightful, is at least correct
I marvel at the shear insanity
embodied by our president-elect
while others analyze, the Donald acts
to keep our fact'ries belching smoke and steam
forgiving corporations their due tax
what's won is always less than it would seem
a shake-down at the tax-payers' expense
that goads their rivals to whine for the same
the brute naïveté of Trump, and Pence
who think Trade Policy is just a game
way past his depth, this bragging neophyte
could crash the Ship of State in broad daylight

toledot

archetypal twins, alike as day and night
rewarded Rivkah after lonely years
when not yet born, already in the fight
a mother's nightmare, piling fears on tears
the birthright Esau bartered for a meal
the blessing Jacob stole from their blind sire
in time, seemed like a less than winning deal
to guard their uncle's flocks to earn his hire
the lie his father bought came at a price
he's not the firstborn he purports to be
deceiving twin and father, he sinned twice
deceived in turn, he earned deception's fee
a bitter road of exile, and return
for Jacob was the only way to learn

not with a bang

our Founding Fathers feared democracy
must be unstable, hobbled by its flaw
devolving into strongman tyranny
a demagogue who doesn't know the law
twelve score of years, it's worked despite their fears
our checks and balances kept us upright
but Gingrich threw a wrench into those gears
to bend our course to what he thought was Right
his Golem, Donald scoffs at paying tax
or settling debts his contracts say he owes
"reality" for him's not tied to facts
he's proud of what he's got, not what he knows
he treats our constitution like a rag
but wraps his fascist ravings in our flag

O brave new world!

Lord Kelvin challenged Hutton's count of years
as if our planet couldn't be that old
the first among his scientific peers
insisted magma would long since grow cold
sir Isaac's clockwork world would have run down
if not for fission cooking in its core
the physics world had a new boy in town
to overturn what had seemed settled lore
the heavy elements that over-shot
the minimum where iron settles out
can keep a planet's core aslosh and hot
'though no one 'til then knew what that's about
new physics left old scientists behind
who thought they'd mapped the frontiers of the mind

post-truth

like Riefenstahl, Steve Bannon feeds the mob
a fabulous faux-past when they were great
a fourth estate that didn't do its job
gave up the field to merchants peddling hate
as sovereigns, it's on our heads to choose
a course for our republic and allies
but all depends on getting honest news
and knowing what part's satire, what part's lies
no Walter Cronkite tells it to us straight
each channel slants the news to make it mean
whatever sponsors' polls would indicate
when Breitbart's the official noise machine
that sunny future's darker than it seems
when we buy into propagandists' dreams

libertarianism

Locke's Second Treatise undergirds the Earth
on which our whole republic claims to stand
assigning lord and peon the same worth
that's what he means to say that one's a man
the right to property's not without bound
democracy presumes we're each the same
if some would sprawl on silks, some on the ground
"our" government's not ours, except in name
a much as he can till's a man's by right
beyond that, everything soon goes amiss
good work by day, and sleep secure by night
to grasp for more would be gross avarice
political philosophy's amok
when men prostrate to worship the Lord Buck

cheater

that Trump's a loser, even he concedes
alleging fraud while winning'd make no sense
this latest lie's a fantasy that feeds
the ego that allied itself to Pence
no narrative's as dear as victimhood
that masks aggression as a quest for rights
alleging his pursuit is for our good
he takes hypocrisy to artful heights
to delegitimize the vote per se
while claiming nonetheless that he had won
leaves nothing settled at the end of day
democracy itself has been undone
the Donald flip-flops without blush or shame
as long as networks blare his gilded name

vayeitzeh

when Jake came out, his mother seemed relieved
he wasn't cut out for his brother's life
his uncle wouldn't care whom he'd deceived
and just might hook the lad up with a wife
a chance encounter on the trail to Luz
assured him God went with him on his way
yet still, he haggled like it's his to choose
'though Esau'd made it plain, he could not stay
a score of years, he slept rough with the flocks
forsaking comforts of his mother's tent
to Esau's goat, he'd learn to play the fox
as Laban taught him what mishpachah meant
at thirty-five, he'll kiss by Jabbok's stream
the twin who sought to kill him as a teen

pulp

George R. R.  Martin writes salacious bits
to lend his drama versimilitude
a tale devoid of sweat, and ass, and tits
would lack his ambiance and attitude
incestuous begettings in the dark
taint many pretty claimants to a throne
few women are as chaste as Lady Stark
to bear a king a son he's sure's his own
no telos motivates dynastic wars
no themes to elevate a reader's soul
an endless haggling for the fees of whores
as mercenaries back-stab for control
this Game of Thrones sells sex, and gore, and dread
as each new varlot swiftly turns up dead

here we go!

the gust-front strikes as almost a relief
the waiting's had us at each other's throats
now air's aswirl with dust and twig and leaf
that had been thick with arguments and votes
the fascists Europe banished long ago
convinced that war was won for once and all
have now emerged from backwoods Idaho
to seize the reins democracy let fall
now Trump lets Bannon ride the Fourth Estate
George Orwell's turning flips to hear such words
the facile lie he'll "make our nation great"
makes as much sense as polishing a turd
farewell to any journalistic norm
all's swept away in Donald's bullshit storm

atavist

the Europeans look at us aghast
replaying errors of another age
as if we had learned nothing from their past
embracing an new politics of rage
eight years ago, the economic slump
threw millions underwater, out of work
and some, in desperation, turned to Trump
entrusting our republic to this jerk
Protectionism makes nobody great
impov'rishing our economic root
short-sighted calculation based on hate
regressing to the age of Hawley-Smoot
new century, but scant sign that we learn
we and our planet are consigned to burn

poor role model

Trump dares his creditors to go to court
compelling him to pay the money due
content they can't afford to prove the tort
for less than they're expending just to sue
exactly how he thinks diplomacy
could work if no one meant to keep his word
confronts the voter as a mystery
his candidacy's utterly absurd
his diction's childish, and his ethics, lax
he hung out with the miscreants at school
and decades later, he still cheats at tax
the Donald disavows the Golden rule
time and again, his ventures turn to shit
but some can't see he's morally unfit

Deep Time

the static cosmos Aristotle dreamed
held realms in sway two thousand years or more
but matters proved less settled than they'd seemed
confronted with a fossil dinosaur
"no vestige of Beginning" Hutton found
implying Time runs deeper than the Flood
his reasoning's as solid as the ground
his rivals' arguments are built on mud
by reproducing differentially
a genotype's by definition fit
to dominate the land, or sky, or sea
until a grandchild somehow out-breeds it
Charles Darwin transformed therapods to ducks
'cause "species" are just snapshots in the flux

out of touch

the DNC marched blithely to defeat
chastising peasants to fall into line
the only candidate whom Trump could beat
assured embedded press it would be fine
the board of WalMart on her resume
tipped workers off their jobs would only go
abroad for only pennies on the day
she didn't mean to change the status quo
the senator from WallStreet stirred no fire
except in the Financial Center's heart
the Socialist who reached for something higher
was edged by a director of WalMart
while Donald offered circuses and loaves
potential voters stayed away in droves

no fish is an island II

a motile salmon transports nutrients
against the current, to its natal creek
that nourish next Spring's fair efflorescence
of which the bard so eloquently speaks
as whales bring phosphorus up from the deep
their fecal plumes are rich to over-kill

to build such stable systems, the curve's steep
no balaenoptera without their krill
the Gaia theory woobydoobies love
rejects the systematics of Descartes
a chthonic god displacing one above
whom William Blake thought tore all art apart
the Web of Life that's aeons-long to weave
will take a few more life-times to perceive

echo chamber

the gilded excess of a Trump hotel
betrays his insecurity on class
to paper over flaws in wares he'd sell
a lion's mane's been grafted on an ass
the hair that's chic on an orangutan
in Trump's eighth decade's weirdly out of place
but who'd stand up to tell this petty man
that anything he does is in poor taste
his cabinet selections won't last long
they'll mostly be replaced within the year
to hint by word or deed he might be wrong
would earn the boss' jackboot to one's rear
the solipsist-in-chief has none to blame
when everything's transacted in his name

change is gonna come

as Florida subsides beneath the waves
its seats get re-apportioned farther West
denialists can flee their wat'ry graves
but can't escape their fate with all the rest
a house divided gets no chance to heal
as goals and values tug the halves apart
the backers of the artist of the deal
express contempt for those of Bernie's heart
what unifying vision can emerge
to offer leadership our country lacks
today, we're marching to our nation's dirge
exacerbated by the Donald's hacks
a tide of bile's rough seas on which to float
and--sink or swim--we're all in the same boat

egoist

the gilded excess of a Trump hotel
bespeaks his insecurity on class
to paper over flaws in wares he'd sell
a lion's mane's been grafted on an ass
the hair that's chic on an orangutan
in Trump's eighth decade's weirdly out of place
but who'll stand up to tell this petty man
that anything he does is in poor taste
his cabinet selections won't last long
they'll mostly be replace within the year
to hint by word or deed he might be wrong
would earn the boss' jackboot to one's rear
the solipsist-in-chief has none to blame
when everything's transacted in his name

unbalanced

Trump's cabinet cants sharply to the Right
as Europeans take that term to mean
the citizen can't make much of a fight
confronted with the State's Police Machine
the libertarians should be aghast
as Pompeo surveils them in their beds
dystopic visions of the fascist past
dance uninvited in their sleepless heads
Karl Rove's alliance suffered more than dents
it needs to be rebuilt from the drive-train
impeachment looms from those who think Mike Pence
if not the man they want, at least is sane
foundations must be planned and leveled well
if our republic's not to slip toward Hell

no fish is an island

a motile salmon transports nutrients
against the current, to its natal creek
that nourish next Spring's fair efflorescence
of which the bard so eloquently speaks
as whales bring phosphorus up from the deep
to fertilize the plankton they then kill
to build such stable systems, the curve's steep
no balaenoptera without their krill
the Gaia theory woobydoobies love
rejects the systematics of Descartes
a chthonic god displacing one above
whom William Blake thought tore all art apart
the Web of Life that's aeons-long to weave
will take a few more life-times to perceive

Enlightenment Experiment II

Karl Popper bade us wake from Plato's spell
that's been passed off as "truth" since it was cast
an exorcism with no book, nor bell
to liberate us from the hoary past
the Perfect need not always be behind
all strivings forward need not be downslope
the Golden Age is only of the mind
despair's no more our lot in life than hope
perfectibility is in our hands
a reasonable People can decide
establishing the rule of law, not man
with only human reason as our guide
a bold, but not unreasonable thing
to set forth a new nation with no king

Enlightenment Experiment II

Karl Popper bade us wake from Plato's spell
that's been passed off as "truth" since it was cast
an exorcism with no book, nor bell
to liberate us from the hoary past
the Perfect need not always be behind
all strivings forward need not be downslope
the Golden Age is only of the mind
despair's no more our lot in life than hope
perfectibility is in our hands
a reasonable People can decide
establishing the rule of law, not man
with only human reason as our guide
a bold, but not unreasonable thing
to set forth a new nation with no king

mishpat echat

Trump's registry of Muslims' as obscene
as any other red flag he might choose
to signal an illiberal regime
good Christians must reject as much as Jews
to welcome strangers is no civic flaw
the bible emphasizes they're like us
with no allowance for a sep'rate law
no sanction for Trump's rabid animus
the Nativists are hot to bar the gate
now we've found  haven, Others shant as well
as if it were mere prudence to preach hate
against a refugee escaping Hell
since Egypt, we have known a stranger's heart
we'd sin were we to set him thus apart

Enlightenment experiment

Karl Popper bade us wake from Plato's spell
millennia long gone since it was cast
an exorcism with no book, nor bell
to liberate us from the hoary past
the Perfect need not always be behind
all striving forward need not be downslope
the Golden Age is only of the mind
despair's no more our lot in life than hope
perfectibility is in our hands
a reasonable People can decide
establishing the rule of law, not man
with only human reason as our guide
a bold, but not unreasonable thing
to set forth a new nation with no king

feckless sovereign

our Founding Fathers feared a demagogue
would throw their compromises out en masse
'though he himself was raised high on the hog
he'd over-turn the rightful ruling class
Electors were invented to forestall
the proletariate seizing control
a vetted gentry casting votes for all
between the presidency and the poll
as they foresaw, a Donald Trump arose
who knew not Joseph and wants us to kneel
'cause he's the man the frightened masses chose
to renegotiate their dead-end deal
industrialization has its cost
'though productivity mounts ever higher
uncounted mindless jobs must soon be lost
the unskilled face a future dark and dire
our Ship of State may not stay long afloat
if this is how our seething masses vote

evil precedent

the precedent Obama leaves in place

by whacking al-Awlakis, pere et fils

should scare us all, now Donald's on the case

no one of us will ever sleep in peace

the promises of Due Process of Law

don't mean a thing when no one prosecutes

in execution lurks the fatal flaw

the DA's mute when his supreme boss shoots

perhaps a journalist is next in queue

investigating Trump's business affairs

who guarantees it won't be me, or you

who's centered in the next Hellfire's crosshairs

aspiring to be ruled by laws, not men

we've stretched our necks to our Leviathan

unenlightened

our Founders trusted wisdom could be found
by polling an unschooled electorate
legitimacy flows up from the ground
and dynasties are not divinely set
the demagogue who cost them sleep at night
at worst, would dominate one branch of three
the other two,  enforcing what was right
if he'd infringe the People's liberty
but new technologies upend the mix
and couch-potatoes toss what we held dear
sham punditocracy anoints their picks
their television's always tuned to 'fear'
with Trump astride our hobbling government
we've failed Enlightenment's experiment

uncompromising

the Naderites deny they sank Al Gore
the votes they cast could have been GOP
a Democrat might still have gone to war
but numbers don't support that history
to chase Utopia, they earned our curse
unable to get past Gore's lack of charm
eight years of Cheney/Bush made the world worse
and Trump will do irreparable harm
this time, it's Stein who's perfect in their eyes
a standard-bearer focused, bright, and pure
but a republic runs on compromise
where no one bends, the Union can't endure
the damage Trump could do is off the chart
the centre cannot hold; thing fall apart

uncompromising

the Naderites deny they sank Al Gore
the votes they cast could have been GOP
a Democrat might still have gone to war
but numbers don't support that history
to chase Utopia, they earned our curse
unable to get past Gore's lack of charm
eight years of Cheney/Bush made the world worse
and Trump will do irreparable harm
this time, it's Stein who's perfect in their eyes
a standard-bearer focused, bright, and pure
but a republic runs on compromise
where no one bends, the Union can't endure
the damage Trump could do is off the chart
the centre cannot hold; thing fall apart

swan song

the Age of Trump, and Erdogan, and Xi
is perilous to members of the Press
and those of us who dream we should be free
pursuing not big bucks, but Happiness
a vast conspiracy tends towards the Right
although their slogans elevate der Volk
de facto maximize the rulers' might
and civil liberties are just a joke
it's thought that Putin chortles at the news
that Hillary won't be the head of State
the Democrats contrived a way to lose
against the xenophobic font of hate
a rising tide of bile could swamp all boats
when fear and avarice command the votes

show's over; back to work

the elephants are done, pack up the tents
it's just a field that was the circus grounds
attention turns away from Trump and Pence
they'll be forgotten with the other clowns
no lofty "shining city on a hill"
this contest was competed in the sewer
and now it's over, all the people will
remember are the volleys of manure
of war, and peace, and government's right size
important issues lost in all the smoke
we're left to tabulate who told more lies
Trump's foreign policy's an ill-told joke
Scalia's seat's the prize for the next fight
for which the card gets set on Tuesday night

Hatch Act

the FBI director's ten-year hitch
was meant to keep his desk above the fray
but Comey's still invested in the witch-
hunt prosecuted in Ken Starr's heyday
the Rule of Law's applied by human hands
as biased as our basest officer
a prosecutor courting the grandstands
makes plain he won't salute or bow to her
James Comey teeters in J. Edgar's shoes
he'd rather hang them all than grant them deals
there'd be no mercy were it his to choose
unstable boyscout in stilletto heels
when Law's a tool for partisan attack
it's over-due we took our country back

behind the elephants

the clowns bow out, the circus packs its tents
the echoes fade of the last slogans slung
a slim majority closed out Trump/Pence
and all that's left is shoveling up the dung
no shining vision of a world made whole
a White House race contested in the mud
both major candidates are scant on soul
and Donald mutters darkly there'll be blood
post-partisan Obama politics
met brute obstructionism from day one
until the Senate signs for Clinton's picks
the battle to fill SCOTUS won't be done
most pollsters favor Clinton on the math
but no one's plumbed the rabble's bone-deep wrath

process of elimination

bizarrely, Trump's his party's nominee
the donors' favorites left the voters cold
his language skills are rudimentary
but still, he's in, when all the others fold
the bid his rivals thought was just a bluff
has bigly demonstrated what he's got
he's found an audience who like it rough
and anti-Semitism makes them hot
in such a contest, Hillary looked sage
adult who's seen such tantrums all before
who'll bring back Kissinger to the world stage
but only cultivate  a little war
this moderate Republican in heels
excluded Bernie and his new NewDeal

impersonal

Maimonides made Judaism fit
into the box that Aristotle built
explaining that the key to all of it
was rationality, not merely guilt
aristotelian God imposed on texts
that seem to show that He evolved with time
meant scrubbing out His body and His sex
ascribing attributes must be a crime
how much of this would Avraham not get
would he be stuck with Moshe in row eight
of cheder, puzzling over alef-bet
while front-row students relish the debate?
this apikoros God would need no blood
and wouldn't wipe His planet out in flood