maneuverings

can Christie speak for the Establishment
does his endorsement carry any weight
the cries of 'Murder' from RNC's tent
shows no two can agree except to hate
the party writhes, it's too much to digest
debates degenerate to schoolyard brawls
in such a field, to deem that one were "best"
would be to overestimate them all
in desperation, Mitch grasps for a rope
if Hillary's the best that he can do
to block the candidacy of new HOPE
he'll back the Wall Street shill to foil the Jew
out senate-floor's serenely ethics-free
more auction-house than real democracy

paradigmatic

folk etymology made "Brandywine"
when Elvish was no longer understood
by Hobbits tracing their ancestral line
to ages when the Shire was weeds and wood
a metaphor for Rome's stamp on the land
and Latin giving us a word or three
a fanciful attempt to understand
conflates folklore with real philology
as sure as Homer or the brothers Grimm
the Tolkien oevre conforms to all the rules
without a regulator over him
intuiting the rhapsode's kit of tools
the Parry/Lord hypothesis looks good
more firmly rooted than yon Birnham Wood

the Official Story

The pundits say she's got this in the bag
'cause VIPs get whatever they need
both FauxNews and the Rupert Murdoch  rag
claim Bernie must be mad to not concede
Piketty showed elites tend to amass
both money and the levers of the State
entrenching a new idle ruling class
dystopian Cassandra of our fate
if we're not gonna meekly trudge downslope
America must get past the Old Guard
we might get hurt to fall in love, or hope
Vote Hillary! 'cause real change would be hard!
the propaganda's shoveled hot and deep
by wolves who deem the People dumb as sheep

democide

Yigal Amir shot Rabin in the back
embarrassingly easy deed to do
Israelis weren't braced for this attack
his guards watched for an Arab, not a Jew
Palmach's own son, respected more than loved
he lacked a politician's verbal grease
the warrior become reluctant dove
to leave his grandchildren a world at peace
mis-handled backlash squandered sympathy
the program left to Peres stalled and sunk
Likud won votes for more security
and Labour lost what should have been slamdunk
two bullets slammed into the Jewish State
incited by yeshivot teaching hate

situational

for Hegel, that which prospers must be right
and scolding those in power does no good
the only argument that counts is might
one'd be a fool to lose sleep over "should"
no ethics are invariant with time
no merits count against something that works
aesthetics are a hill he spurns to climb
and he'll crown any winners 'though they're jerks
what Nixon did--in his eyes--can't be bad
except the slimy bastard did get caught
a president impeached was what was sad
because one prosecutor can't be bought
now Hillary would bring Kissinger back
to play the moral compass that she lacks

My kingdom is not of this world

dominionists believed the time was right

to take the reins of power in their hand

to cast off piety and rule by might

to claim the highest office in the land

their chosen Joshua had been Ted Cruz

reliant on strange charms not of this world

their faith's unshaken 'though he had to lose

and couldn't buy a smile from his own girl

the eyes of Faith saw what no others can

the rest of us recoiled at his shrill voice

and wouldn't dream of voting for their man

'though Lucifer were made the only choice

his party's rout would have been on his head

Americans love Jesus, but not Ted

tikkun olam

ben Azzai never came home from the Light
sweet consummation took him from this world
the Rabbis say he might have got it right
if he'd entwined his soul with a nice girl
without an anchor, Pardes was too much
what he plucked there he didn't turn to share
pure mystic who had drifted out of touch
too eager to discard what we have here
between such worlds, our life's a narrow bridge
and one could lose it all to either side
it's not for us to lengthen or abridge
competing sects swear they're the only guide
like Moshe standing up to get to work
to stay in Paradise would be to shirk

unbound

what Frankenstein loosed Donald on the land
and what's the magic word to call him back
his rhetoric of hate is out of hand
democracy itself's under attack
Newt Gingrich thought obstruction could be used
for partisan advantage come what may
in retrospect, he set light to the fuse
that smolders towards destruction, day by day
the maharal of Prague's the only sleuth
who knows what it was gave this monster breath
a Golem's not controlled but by the Truth
and nothing's gonna stop it short of Death
no fantasy of vengence on the mob
could justify this mamzer for the job

my generation

each Sanders speech gets voters in the door
who otherwise would not participate
they'd never deigned to register before
content to leave our governance to fate
exposure leaves the Clinton polls unchanged
while Bernie surges with each broadcast spot
millenials who hadn't known his name
decided that the old White guy is hot
the party bosses watch their power fray
as voters just demur to go along
the youth vote isn't gonna go away
once they're engaged, they're many million strong
it's never gonna be ms. Clinton's turn
if a whole generation feels the Bern

two mind problem

the world of bats must be obscure to Man
who builds reality from cues of sight
while they construct from auditory scans
a 4-D map to navigate the night
two minds describing what they know's out there
can harbor doubt that they communicate
of just which traits is it that we're aware
that best define the thing we contemplate
does "yellow" echo diff'rently from "red"
can bouncing photons tell what's soft or firm
why should you understand a thing I've said
when no one gives each qualium its term
a metaphoric code is all we've got
but who's to say a metaphor for what

Oresteia

Thyestes took his brother's wife to bed
and Atreus did not take that news well
he brought the curse of heaven on his head
and doomed his grandson to a living Hell
what could Orestes do in such a plight
he's next of kin and must avenge the king
in his dilemma, no decision's right
the best of actions consequences bring
the  cycle of revenge must be cut short
its logic would thud on in gory rhyme
some goddess must invent a sacred court
to stay the feud before the end of time
Athene contrived a ruse to harness Hate
by delegating justice to the state

the seamy side

a second son with no inheritance
obliged to seek his fortune overseas
young Jason staked his life on one slim chance
to win rhapsodic immortality
the dragon would have stopped him in his tracks
had he not found an ally and a guide
who bought the hero his safe passage back
his super-competent exotic bride
Euripides stood all this on its head
a modern eye turned on the antique work
to focus on Medea's role instead
and show up Jason as a preening jerk
her suicide must be implied, off-stage
but theater-goers still thrill to her rage      

narrow strengths

the RedState  Democrats have Clinton's back
in states she'll never carry in the Fall
like Bill's some sort of honorary Black
'cause Bernie can't affect a Southern drawl
the Clinton brand is sterling in these parts
where Sanders toils to get his message out
'though Hillary can't touch the people's hearts
she taints the Vermont senator with doubt
beyond the party faithful, she's less strong
she's made some enemies who won't forget
old promises and how she did them wrong
while Bernie's unencumbered by such debt
past the conventions looms the WhiteHouse race
where Bernie's strengths align to take first place

contingent

on Brink of Doom Sam watched as Gollum danced
eye-witness to the passing of an Age
when Gandalf's plans all turned on this one chance
beyond the best foreknowledge of the sage
the fate of MiddleEarth's in Shiva's hand
which is to say it's indeterminate
un-numbered possibilities like sand
mind-boggling vast, if not quite infinite
then wave-functions collapse and deed is done
and Frodo's digit has been sacrificed
what armies couldn't do, was done by one
although it had come to a roll of dice
on such contingencies of war and strife
we tread unthinkingly and call it "life"

loose lips

Joe Biden took the senate floor to speak
with perfect faith he'd find something to say
without a breath, he'd blather on all week
and too much content just gets in the way
but video preserves his ev'ry word
to echo awkwardly across the years
a vapid argument he know absurd
now throws a wrench into Obama's gears
McConnell takes the "Biden Rule" to heart
and swears no nomination will advance
a confirmation doomed to never start
however perfect,  just won't get a chance
Mitch cites Joe's precedent and deems it firm
to grant Obama 3/5 of a term

shemini

Nadav and Abihu drew close and burned
and never brought their insights to the world
once consummated, disdained to return
preferring to dissolve into the swirl
a Light unto the Nations gotta shine
those who've seen more should share it with the rest
an ethic's sterile if it's only mine
we need consensus to enforce what's best
as Moshe rose and put back on his shoes
once private revelation was complete
he had to publicize it to the Jews
and couldn't rest in that communion sweet
to bring the sacred into the profane
takes all we've got of body, soul and brain

Cozy

post-OCCUPY, her stint on WalMart's board
damns Hillary for obscuring the line
between the rich and all the wealth they hoard
and those who draft society's design
revolving doors keep power out of range
for those who weren't born into the club
insiders build their fortunes stifling CHANGE
despite the pick-up lines they try in pubs
each generation must claw power back
from those who would entrench a new elite
Class Warfare's just a one-sided attack
when workers dare not take it to the street
as Jefferson had taught, it's in our hands
to nurse the torch of Freedom in our lands

insider

the non-committed delegates align
with her who has their interests at heart
who's always gonna toe the party line
and never tear the status quo apart
invested in the way the system works
elections run in daylight pose a threat
they'll take the money and attendant quirks
their whole careers, they're in their donors' debt
democracy could spoil their cozy niche
and make them servants of the public good
instead of doing favors for the rich
expecting they'd do what they'd said they would
unceasing vigilance must be the fee
each generation pays to prosper, free

unloved

Jeb had hoped someone loves him second-best
and so he doggedly pursued the race
although he's overshadowed by the rest
he liked his chances in a face-to-face
his elder brother made the bigger splash
with womanizing, fighter-jets and coke
while Jeb would never do something so rash
he's widely viewed as  something of a joke
the party bosses have begun to fret
as each contender comes up lame and stops
if Rubio's the horse on whom to bet
the Democrats are coming out on top
no knight in armor's gonna bail them out
the stars align for Sanders in a rout

clowning

as Jeb pulls out, Santorum spreads a stain
on all the clowns packed in that tiny car
it's still contentious who's in line to gain
intellectually, they're all sub-par
next to that putz, a zombie would look good
but Bernie brings an independent zeal
this Fall's election's a tough neighborhood
where voters want less "snarky" and more "real"
'though gerrymandering will hold the House
contested Senate seats are poised to flip
this elephant's as fearsome as a mouse
the party nation-wide has lost its grip
by any standard that we've ever had
this GOP convention's pretty sad

n-space

Jean Jacques Rousseau thought everything was fine
and nobody would lack for anything
until the People took it in our mind
to bend the knee and elevate a king
for Hobbes, the rabble need a head to steer
they're miserable where there is no State
his politics is founded on our fear
we're only unified by whom we hate
between these poles, there's room to disagree
no paradigm is everywhere the best
how much to cede to buy security
legitimacy's not a single test
beyond this axis labeled "Left" and "Right"
there's still 'N' more to stoke a barroom fight

the whole franchise

each Sanders speech gets voters in the door

who otherwise would not participate

they'd never deigned to register before

content to leave our governance to fate

exposure leaves the Clinton polls unchanged

while Bernie surges with each broadcast spot

millenials who hadn't known his name

decided that the old White guy is hot

the party bosses watch their power fray

as voters just demur to go along

the youth vote isn't gonna go away

once they're engaged, they're many million strong

it's never gonna be ms. Clinton's turn

if a whole generation feels the Bern

the Four

four entered Paradise and three returned
soul's inward journey balanced on a knife
Elisha found his bridges all had burned
ben Azzai paid the carfare with his life
the text is terse, but midrashim unwind
Akiva's nonchalance where others fell
and how it was ben Zoma lost his mind
who'd known Yeshiva lesson books so well
of ben Abuyah Rabbis rarely speak
a subtle mind turned from the Torah's light
without a paddle, drifting on the creek
without mitzvot for guideposts in his night
on weak foundations, mystics come unwound
when they can't keep one foot on solid ground

versatile

no oath compelled Achilles to wage war
too young to bid for Helen's famous charms
let Menelaus chase his truant whore
he'll cuddle in Patrokleus' arms
for Homer, love of women leads to strife
a prize like Helen's no cause to be proud
we all admire Odysseus' wife
but she's the shining stand-out in this crowd
the two Atreides were each betrayed
their fancy wives were famously unchaste
each bought a cuckold's horns for bride-price paid
while he sought glory laying Asia waste
Achilles lived in glory his brief days
the hero wise enough to swing both ways       

new eyes

EM telescopy's been good so far
in radio and x-ray and in light
by capturing the photons of a star
to chart the cosmic mysteries by night
as if our universe were only quarks
and other particles need not apply
we only looked up when the sky grew dark
and background wouldn't glut the naked eye
what undergirds the heavens' glitt'ring face
what doesn't call attention with its glow
but in between those stars is all of space
that doesn't shake electrons too and fro
four LIGO stations could map gravity
a view that optics couldn't ever see

Penelope

twin Tyndarids betrayed their husband's beds
each one as beautiful as she's unchaste
proud Agamemnon and the troops he led
ill-paid for coming home from Troy in haste
king Menelaus earned immortal fame
the cuckold who set all of Greece to war
the bride who spurned his bed stained red his name
the fool who let a Trojan share his whore
a longer path Odysseus must sail
who wed their cousin upright through and through
two decades sundered, each thick with travail
can't tempt Penelope to be untrue
while others sought acclaim and praise in life
Odysseus' treasure was his wife      

polypoites

no oath compelled Achilles to sack Troy
too young to bid for Helen's famous charms
let Menelaus chase his bedroom toy
he'll cuddle in Patrokleus' arms
for Homer, love of women leads to strife
a prize like Helen's no cause to be proud
we all admire Odysseus' wife
but she's the shining stand-out in this crowd
the two Atreides were each betrayed
their fancy wives were famously unchaste
each bought a cuckold's horns for bride-price paid
while he sought glory laying Asia waste
Achilles lived in glory his brief days
the hero wise enough to swing both ways         

family dysfunction

strange tests the Fates posed for lord Faramir
content to be a Steward, not a king
by bringing Frodo and his burden near
with tales of how his brother craved the Ring
lord Denethor disdained him all his life
no matter how he toiled and strove to please
the birth that cost his father his dear wife
had doomed him to unheard apologies
like Jacob fleeing Esau's murd'rous wrath
he lived afield who'd rather study lore
diverted from his academic path
he tried to win approval waging war
he knew he was his father's least-loved son
but scored the royal bride ere day was done           

narrow window

impending rain, Ed Levin's going off
unfit to train, it beckons us to soar
high-pressure ridge yields to Pacific trough
and pilots feel old yearnings in their core
suburban foo looks best in vernal green
and mustard blooms paint sunlight on the hills
it's not the loveliest fly-site you've seen
but on the right day, still provides some thrills
the window's tight, pre-frontal doesn't last
you'll need a driver to retrieve your truck
before the road's closed to mud and storm-blast
and vehicles on top will all be stuck
we're grateful for a bit of rain and snow
but all this moisture keeps cloudbase too low

metamorphosis

down, down, they plunged, the Balrog and the Mage

and even in free-fall pursued the fight

begun ere MiddleEarth saw the ThirdAge

the flame of Udun grappling Anor's light

emerging from his mikveh a blank slate

reborn at length on Balin's rock-hewn tomb

an eagle's burden seeming without weight

he took the sky-way out of  Khazad-dûm

no elf nor dwarf could know what horrors sleep

unfathomed caverns, measureless to man

'though generations labored to dig deep

vestigial delvings Morgoth's slaves began

theology's implicit in the themes

that Tolkien has injected in our dreams

vacant

Republican bad faith is on display
defying what Saint Raygun said they should
as if Obama ought to have no say
on the exclusive SCOTUS brotherhood
no strict construction justifies their ploy
the constitution's unambiguous
but Mitch McConnell plays abruptly coy
as if delay served not just him, but us
a bench for nine's precarious for eight
an even number's too prone to deadlocks
the president must duly nominate
then prod McConnell with electric shocks
three legs sustain our hard-fought liberties
and Mitch can't change that system as he please

DeepState

the Dulles brothers set up Bay of Pigs
to coerce JFK to bail them out
they had no budget for a scheme so big
but bet he'd dispatch troops to staunch a rout
but Kennedy was made of sterner stuff
and left the sell-swords dying on the beach
despite his youth, he knew how to play rough
and kept the keys to power out of reach
the mystery will never cease to churn
around that Dallas grassy knoll attack
with passing years we're never gonna learn
some say that Allen Dulles had him whacked
Orwellian dystopia's in store
if voters are too meek to ask for more           

Ding Dong

to speak ill of the dead--I'm told--is crass
so when Scalia died, I held my tongue
let history attest he was an ass
whose oral arguments were packed with dung
McConnell wants his bench to languish, cold
despite the Constitution's language clear
the whole judiciary put on 'hold'
neck-down paralysis election year
his simple answers to questions complex
defied the founders' sense of equity
like rights of women weren't in the text
and only landed gentry count as "free"
but sticking with what mother said I should
you say "Scalia's dead" and I say "good"  

is there anybody out there?

stray noises in the night elicit fears
when mind's deprived of input from our sight
we're ill-equipped to navigate by ears
scenarios abound that might be right
bats conjure up reality from sound
as tangible to them as light to us
their construct rests on just as solid ground
despite a wholly different stimulus
if Yoda learned to read gravity waves
his information stream cannot be blocked
abroad by day or in stygian caves
his data keep on coming 'round the clock
if all converge on one ontology
it's more than anyone's equipped to see        

Canto XV

for Sodomites, there's no opprobrium
the Comedy of Dante bares no teeth
he greets his friends by asks not how they come
to dwell not up on high but underneath
for other sins, the punishment's doled out
in increments that seem proportionate
but in this circle readers come to doubt
the author feels true justice has been met
new heights of infamy as one goes down
the ninth's reserved for reprobates who dwell
with traitors against parent, God and Crown
the bottom is the pinnacle of Hell
the Tenth yawns empty 'til Dick Cheney dies
to be complete, the scheme lacks Prince of Lies         

marketing

TransRectal UltraSound makes voters cringe
its acronym repels both Blue and Red
a candidate from way beyond the fringe
went with a logo that links TRUS with TED
"tin ear"'s too faint a term for such a gaffe
from a campaign aspiring to our trust
at best,  evokes uncomfortable laughs
more likely, it forebodes his bid's a bust
who chose the senator's inapt design
were they sincerely working for the creep
 it's totally ok for one to whine
the image strikes uncomfortably deep 
 Joe Voter would be wise to take a pass
on candidates so keen on up-the-ass      

getting a head

Bill Rehnquist loved Ted Cruz as his law clerk
fresh out of LawSchool and eager to please
 'though everyone acknowledged he's a jerk
he started every morning on his knees
a clever tongue for arguing the law
found other uses in the judge's bed
and no gag-reflex guarding his tight craw
empowered Ted to give exquisite head
the senator from Texas has no friend
but as a Christian he's learned to act meek
the ones he loves will love him in the end
because he's learned to turn the nether cheek
he scored the clerkship in his Law School crop
insisting that the Justice be on top  
    

enlightened

the vault of heaven makes a guy feel small
our planet's dwarfed by even local things
a rock that's scarce worth anything at all
when set against the scale of Saturn's rings
Polaris only tells us how we spin
and which horizon's blotting out our sun
but gives no hint of how one might begin
to understand how cosmos had begun
Fraunhofer lines put bar-codes on the stars
and--once you've compensated for red-shift--
you know not only what, but where they are
and needn't feel entirely adrift
sir Isaac Newton taught us to parse light
to peel away the mysteries of night

cutting losses

as Aeroflot goes on the auction block
Bashar Assad knows he'll be on his own
no further rubles to reset his clock
his patron's broke and he's in this alone
a foreign war keeps voters pacified
but trying that too often would be rash
the hungry peasants can't subsist on pride
and empires fall when they run out of cash
the fracking boom has pushed crude oil's price down
while Russia has no other revenue
this Assad fling's a night out on the town
he can't afford while other bills are due
when Moscow sneezed, Damascus caught a cold
and allies bought for cash are cheaply sold

Justice

Ruth Bader Ginsburg danced at Nino's wake
as Bernie's revolution hits its stride
a nation ponders what it's gonna take
to turn the One Percenters' plans aside
whom would a confirmation battle serve
as we work through this strange election year
the Court Supreme's exposed as the raw nerve
that nauseates a People wracked with fear
abortion and corruption in the dock
as "Citizens United" and "Jane Roe"
decisions that some love but other mock
are only law because the Court says so
a five-four court is suddenly four-five
'cause Ginsburg proved the toughest judge alive

flexible

"me too" she chirps, wherever Sanders goes
whatever plank he claims, she wants to own
the general may bring on other foes
but 'til then, Bernie bears the brunt alone
tomorrow, she may sing another tune
and she'll have all the arguments in line
what she espouses now may change by June
she holds no creed invariant with time
a changing world needs leaders one can trust
the Ship of State needs iron in her keel
to keep its bearing despite storm and gust
who know what to push past, 'cause it's not real
as mutable as she is erudite
the Clinton logo forebodes she pulls right