dummy

Scalia's death struck Clarence Thomas mute
although he's never much inclined to speak
except to quip when he was being cute
no wisdom from his lips is seen to leak
George Bush the elder deemed that a Black face
would pass with only shallow scrutiny
unfit to sit in Thurgood Marshall's place
he perched on Antonin's right knee
a rubber stamp on rulings that regress
nostalgic for the era of Jim Crow
content Scalia always knows what's best
and that our Constitution says it's so
he sits as if in vegetative state
a lifetime past his expiration date

evasive

"TopSecret"'s a sub-set of "Classified"
and should have stayed within the walls of State
where confidential matters ought to hide
'til Hillary got mired in email-gate
Inspectors General are duty-bound
to keep the powerful within our rules
reporting any breach they may have found
if they're not just corrupted party tools
her lawyerly evasions can't obscure
appalling judgement on security
with Hillary, it's so hard to be sure
you're gonna get just what it is you see
this self-inflicted wound's a bitter pill
reminding us we struggled to trust Bill

mouthpieces

discarded spokesmen of the Clinton camp
like snowdrifts lining the long road they've come
encumber every policy off-ramp
each choice precluded by earlier ones
the less she says, the more choices abound
but once they've passed her lips, words hem her in
each claim she stakes a tether in the ground
her past forecloses what she can begin
convenient strongmen stick to what they've signed
uncaring what the little people say
their path ahead's just like their path behind
and she aspires to run her ship their way
a clever lawyer delegates the lies
that buy her lee-way to extemporize

tidal

submissive to the motions of the moon
tides bow and scrape retreating from the sand
but stand up tall when sun stands at the noon
each wave dividing heaven's clock's sweep-hand
as interfering curves add and subtract
the waters mount to Spring, now lull to Neap
and endless dance of retreat and attack
now spread about, now gathered in a heap
the angular momentum of the Earth
might yet replace the coal we oughtn't burn
but going Green need not mean cold, and dearth
the options are at hand, if we'd but learn.
Hooked to the grid, such power could be canned
that's now employed redistributing sand   

glint

the setting sun gilds wave-crests on the Bay
a regal foot-path into the far West
a fleeting vision at the close of day
of Phaeton putting his horse-team to rest
imagination treads where feet can't go
in liminal states verging on our dreams
conflating what's above with life below
what's tangible with what--at most--just seems
before us, in its glory sprawls the night
ere rosy-fingered Dawn lights up the East
where touch and sound must take the place of sight
until two backs conjoin to form one beast
each moment, possibilities abound 
if we'd but lift our eyes above the ground        

non-enforcement

Obama grants that torture is a crime
and that we violated detainees
but he would give the perps a pass this time
his Rule-of-Law's devoid of penalties
an evil precedent if this should stand
that water-boarding's decriminalized
as if there's no "supreme law of the land"
and psychopaths do what's good in their eyes
Loretta Lynch shows balls that Holder lacked
and if she finds the will to prosecute
the crime's well documented as a fact
with photographs the monsters thought were cute
historians will judge his legacy
as much by who does time as by who's free        

between

the Schengen Group tempts Erdogan to merge
the fate of Turkey with the Northern States
but at the same time, they'd want him to purge
all Turkish statutes that discriminate
he dreamed he'd bridge from Islam to the West
as spokesman for the wisdom of the East
but mostly he's seen as a source of guest-
arbeiten who perform the work of beasts
as host to refugees, he plays a role
that earns the Europeans' gratitude
two million Syrians must take a toll
as they compete for Lebensraum and food
his grudge against the Kurds must be re-weighed
as dreams or Euro-integration fade            

when and where

the Longitude Act dangled the Crown's gold
for anyone who'd find a ship at sea
for such a story to be fully told
clocks must compete against astronomy
John Harrison's chronometer came through
a challenge to the gazers at the stars
for whom the only time-piece that is true
must use the moons of Jupiter or Mars
'til patents let the Market Forces drive
Invention languished waiting for a prize
scant profit to make innovators thrive
until the law let them monopolize
the first Tech Revolution was set free
by innovations starting in IP       

drama

Euripides gave women a Greek voice
in stories we'd known through the eyes of men
although the polis granted them no voice
their wit's recorded by the playwright's pen
but there we've stalled, 'til somebody elects
a woman to the presidential role
why merit ought to correlate with sex
smacks less of logic than about control
the Trumpen Proletariate pull back
is nothing left of Man's prerogative?
in wounded pride, they go on the attack
with rhetoric coherent as a seive
whoever's first will need a rhino's rind
to make the next great leap for Womankind        

dimensions

geometry precludes tube-in-a-tube
for animals constrained to be 2-D
a one-way gut would split the beast in two
without a hope of contiguity
a third dimension, bridging what's been cut
allows a complicated body-plan
connecting mouth to anus with a gut
be it a crocodile, or louse, or man
but Strings want ten in Space and one in Time
imagination boggles at the task
to sketch a world that won't fit in one mind
and yet we feel compelled at least to ask
a scherzo on dimensionality
finds wide horizons once one gets past three

knowledge

the Library of Babel holds it all
and so, of information, it's devoid
each Truth and Error, be it great of small
is there in mixtures or pure, unalloyed
retrieval times tend towards the infinite
and formulating queries takes too long
to put your faith in what comes out of it
ignores that almost all of it is wrong
they're only data 'til we simplify
and analyse--not just enumerate
in getting beyond "what" to explore "why"
in simplifying, we communicate
among raw inputs, wisdom's hard to find
that has to come from a discerning mind

legislating morality

self-medicating blunts anxiety
for some who doubt they'll ever carve a place
contributing to a society
that offers less a life than a rat-race
some lean on booze, and we tried banning that
which pumped a lot of money into crime
you'd almost have to think the world were flat
to criminalize smoking pot this time
dispassionately acting on the facts
we wouldn't keep repeating these mistakes
on such a market, we should levee tax
if half our legislators were awake
from Prohibition, we can learn a lot
about the fight for legalizing pot

embezzler

Keith Alexander left the NSA
and took a lot of work he didn't do
to monetize what no one's free to say
IP that should belong to me and you
his patents don't name all contributors
and so--by right--are nothing more than trash
but he's a big fan of revolving doors
transmuting rolodex entries to cash
he beats his breast and swears his hands are pure
since no one dares complain, the issue's moot
but what he's done has made us less secure
although it plumps his own account with loot
such patent fraud's a crime where I come from
but prosecutors play both deaf and dumb

It's all about Donald III

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
he spurns economists with hobnail boots
a futile arms-race of tariffs and fines
not seen since we recanted Hawley-Smoot
protectionism's bitter lesson's spurned
and working fam'lies everywhere get burned

it's all about Donald II

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
but Clinton's diligent to get their checks
and so they take her out to wine and dine
but swear that there'll be no cause and effect
whoever wins, they'll collect on their bets
no one gets far without incurring debts

tear it all down

Paul Ryan can't endorse the Donald's bid
two egos just don't fit on that same page
such monstrous manifestations of id
are only unified in their blind rage
if Trump's the nominee, the turnout's low
contested Senate seats could all be lost
as party stalwarts stay away in droves
or partisan divisions may get crossed
if "government's the problem" there's not trust
nor loyalty to bind them to the brand
the Southern Strategy's at last gone bust
and Ryan's speakership could get shitcanned
a bit of Schadenfreude I confess
obstructionism got them in this mess

heavy stuff

the shape of space-time  might be gravity
dictating what coheres and how fruit falls
constraining planets that might wander free
to plot their petty pace within strait walls
no mediating particle's been seen
'though there's a boson to explain the field
we're pumping $billions into a machine
to search for what  might not even be real
Dark Energy may prove the sternest test
to fit in Albert Einstein's brilliant scheme
each galaxy in flight from all the rest
means all's not quite as simple as we'd deem
Inflation posits masses that repel
until they settle in this weighty well

unnatural

Obama cedes she's "likable enough"
a jab too well constructed for a gaffe
pretending that he's speaking off the cuff
obliging her to force that ghastly laugh
when Bill orates, the crowd wants to believe
he's speaking from the heart as well as brain
you rarely catch him trying to deceive
appearing like he truly "feels your pain"
the dowager seems wooden on the stump
her husband has the mojo that she lacks
to take apart George Bush or Donald Trump
and never bore us by reciting facts
if it's not Bernie, Hillary must do
to save the world from going down the loo

unsaid

Aphasiacs learn a dog-like sense of tone
'though they can't parse a sentence or a word
non-verbal cues (lost on the telephone)
inform them what's sincere and what's absurd
what toddlers had before they learned to speak
can be recruited when language is gone
thus nurses speaking Arabic or Greek
can still convey to them what's going on
deductively, one can't know others' minds
are more than phantoms that our own project
but judging who's an ogre and who's kind
one needn't share a common dialect
when aural world and optic correlate
we take on faith that we communicate

Arendt

without causality, one's lost at sea
no principle informs the future tense
if we're to choose to be or not to be
we need to think this universe makes sense
Arendt insists she "want[s] to understand"
but Heidigger's Kool Aid she's quick to drink
discarding propter hoc right out of hand
there's no connection in the thoughts she'll think
Spinoza's clockwork cosmos made all one
yet she aspired to do without his tools
but he's still studied when the day is done
punctiliously hewing to his rules
no science can derive from happenstance
nor history that turns on random chance

dilettantes

sophisticated parasites don't sting
they lull their hosts while taking what they need
if done right, no one needs to feel a thing
it's gauche to heap insult atop the deed
ascarid worms pay richly for their meal
the lull the T-cells that rampage in Crohn's
immune response kept on a level keel
unless one's raised in an aseptic zone
but what of deerflies and their searing punch?
who court our enmity with every quaff
it's we that pay when they'e enjoying lunch
unless we saturate our clothes with Off!
we've co-evolved, these parasites and we
but some have yet to learn civility          

acharei mot

cohane gadol grants s'michah to one goat
the other's blood must purify us all
the choice between them's made by goralot
which is exalted, and which takes the fall
since Titus, there's no altar and no rite
our prayers must substitute for blood and flame
now sin is "crimson" and innocence "white:
and we've no priests to expiate our shame
each week, we delve for meaning in the text
unchanging while our history rolls by
and camels that the thinking mind rejects
allegorize to pass a needle's eye
what's found and what's projected's less than clear
we'll read it with new eyes, same time next year        

cult of personality

Trump thinks we're stupid, and he might be right
the networks comp him airtime at no fee
he contradicts himself from night to night
and no one calls him on his sophistry
he's in the race to win and not to serve
to be a Rajah or a potentate
we'll get the government that we deserve
if we entrust him  with the Ship of State
the dowager contends that it's her turn
to let the peasants kneel and kiss her ring
as sure as Donald that we're slow to learn
that what we need is neither queen nor king
the State of Nature sketched by Thomas Hobbes
seems scarcely worse than Donald and his mobs

hodge-podge

some grumble Bernie hews to the same text
no matter what the audience, or site
while Hillary says what the crowd expects
one for the ethnic votes, one for the Whites'
on issues unforeseen in years to come
how she'd respond is anybody's guess
an amazon of details leaves us numb
but no speech is consistent with the rest
she advocates "Clean Coal" and shutting mines
and never tries to reconcile the twain
irreconcilable things to combine
from speech to speech although it seems insane
a vision to connect disparate facts
remains the feature her campaign still lacks

unmatched

"a woman's love can get you through the night"
so Thetis sought to sooth her grieving son.
but Achilleus girded for the fight;
without Patrokles, even sex ain't fun.
King Agamemnon gave him back the girl,
and heaps of bronze, and chariots beside.
But such a therapon was worth a world;
he's not to be so cheaply mollified.
he equal of a god when moved to ire,
but burning bright, was quick to burn away.
When once his love was taken by the pyre,
he lost the will to hold grim fate at bay.
The Archer, not a man laid him to rest,
who out of all Achaeans was the best.

pluralism

'til Troy's been crushed FarDarter calls the shots
the plague at Aulis screams he's up in arms
at last, an arrow is Achilles' lot
that claims the life no mortal's blade could harm
Apollo motivates the epic tale
it's brilliance more than wisdom on display
he's not the guy to strategize or sail
the Ithakan's the man of many ways
they've each their virtue, and each gets his song
but only one gets home to hug his wife
for polytheists, neither one is wrong
two paradigms of living the good life
foundation myths to school the youth of Greece
one sings of War, and one exults in Peace

cold harbor II

the refugees in flight from al-Assad
find doors are closed to them in the U.S.
because some think they bow to the wrong God
we show scant sympathy for their distress
the Jews of  Europe met much the same fate
our nativists impugned them as a threat
recurrent episodes of baseless hate
we fail to learn but bleat "never forget!"
cold nation of religious refugees
who'd bar the gate when someone new wants in
who like our forebears, longing to breath free
too snug to recognize it's we that sin
the Germans lead, and we're coming in last
internalizing lessons from our past

cold harbor

a tide of migrants fleeing al-Assad
find doors are closed to them in the U.S.
because some think they bow to the wrong God
we show scant sympathy for their distress
the Jews of  Europe met much the same fate
our nativists impugned them as a threat
recurrent episodes of baseless hate
we fail to learn but bleat "never forget!"
cold nation of religious refugees
who'd bar the gate when someone new wants in
who like our forebears, longing to breath free
too snug to recognize it's we that sin
the Germans lead, and we're coming in last
internalizing lessons from our past

misunderestimated

Republicans wake up to what they've wrought
through bitter years, debasing our discourse
ironic prize obstructionism's bought
the race is on, but they've not got a horse
a fascist seized control of their machine
exploiting television to attack
their puppeteers who work behind the scenes
and now they whine he's stabbed them in the back
"You'll love it! Trust me!" and they miss the smirk
whatever they expect of him, he'll say
with no intention of making it work
he'll sing another tune another day
they erred, dismissing him as just a clown
who threatens to take their whole party down

wastrel

Sing, Muse! Our aristeia's at its end
the U.S. had its day on the world stage
a waffling ally and uncertain friend
and prone to intermittent bouts of rage
the rank and file have ditched the GOP
the stubby-fingered one now holds those reins
the pacts that held for half a century
are threatening to circle down the drain
what archaeologist will reconstruct
the promise squandered on so large a scale
once global hegemon and now so fucked
the latest Ozymandias to fail
our brave republic totters towards the dump
if we can't  block the rise of Donald Trump

motives

the bard of Avon's sonnets were his art
the plays he only penned to pay the rent
the shorter works were closer to his heart
to give his inmost passions truest vent
the play's the thing to keep the wolves at bay
but rhyming verse was more what he would choose
for timeless sentiments on bright display
unblemished offerings to please his Muse
a score of generations join to praise
the poetry that he penned on the side
that still has power to move and amaze
a reader 'though the poet's world has died
in fourteen lines, he could evoke a world
and sometimes--one would hope--he got the girl

externalities

the IMF sums externalities
and finds the world's been subsidizing coal
the cost incurred is much more than one sees
each passing month, we're deeper in the hole
"abomination!" Steven Chu decreed
we've got to leave that carbon in the ground
to burn what's been sequestered's a black deed
and so environmentally unsound
extractive industries enriched the Few
degrading atmosphere and health for All
for every buck they "made" it cost us two
but such a house of cards must--one day--fall
renewables must come into their own
if we're to have a planet to call home

Phaedra IV

Hippolytus trains on the sea-packed sand
the image of his father, young once more
and Phaedra burns to touch his lips or hand
propriety and passion waging war
to save the hero, Ariadne died
her doom was tied up in that ball of string
and so her sister stood in as his bride
to reign in Athens when he should be king
Poseidon granted Minos one white bull
on Theseus he showered wishes three
however sweet such gifts might be to mull
the outcome's bitter in reality
where goddesses contend, it's we that die
no earthly ethics bind them in the sky

Tempest

Prospero drowned his book and broke his staff
a fond farewell to writing comedy
'though Trinculo had charms to make one laugh
the Bard was mulling his mortality
he'd made the masses weep and beg for more
and had them baying for a tyrant's blood
but even when they're rolling on the floor
he feared the next one staged might be a dud
a play's all transience; the curtains fall
tomorrow only the reviews persist
the best of jugglers sometimes drops a ball
the best of archers has been known to miss
his mark's indelible upon the stage
let this--not "Timon" stand as his last page

Phaedra III

Hippolytus disdained to share his bed
the horse and hunt were where his passion burned
that earned a father's curse upon his head
and rage from Aphrodite who felt spurned
two sisters Theseus had wooed and won
and Phaedra bore two boys to seal the deal
but meeting her step-son she was undone
she knew her duty but could not not feel
like Theseus restored to youth once more
when first the hero broke the sway of Crete
propriety and passion waging war
the sight of him was like the Summer's heat
a helpless pawn in the goddess' game
who--dying--left her nurse to take the blame

Phaedra II

Hippolytus disdained to share his bed
his passion was for horses and the hunt
that earned a father's curse upon his head
'cause Aphrodite's such a jealous cunt
two sisters Theseus had wooed and won
and Phaedra bore two boys to seal the deal
but meeting her step-son she was undone
she knew her duty but could not not feel
like Theseus restored to youth once more
when first the hero broke the sway of Crete
propriety and passion waging war

the sight of him was like the Summer's heat

a helpless pawn in the goddess' game
who--dying--left her nurse to take the blame

lift up thine eyes

the attitude of gratitude is key
to finding satisfaction in this life
there's more delight in what's on offer free
than marrying an umpteenth trophy wife
a marketer invents a new desire
then foists in on us like it were our own
but all we're buying is a bigger pyre
one more attachment for which to atone
contentment's on the path, not in the goal
and can't be packaged like mere merchandise
the dirt that shuts a rich corpse in its hole
is unimpressed when--like the rest--he dies
from birth to death the journey's all too brief
to trade the dancing joys for plodding grief

Theseus

Hippolytus spurned Phaedra and was cursed
when Theseus rushed to defend his wife
without researching who was at fault first
his son paid for that folly with his life
to serve one goddess drove another mad
he didn't worship each one in Her place
excess turned piety from good to bad
the Cyprian loves Love, and not the Chase
two sisters Theseus took to his bed
exotic brides raised in the court at Crete
he slew their brother, now they too lie dead
there's none to comfort him in his defeat
strange hero founded Athens and its throne
who--like his first-born's--doomed to sleep alone

policism

the private sphere's not for our FBI
nor cops--without a warrant--to inspect
Due Process circumscribes the eyes that pry
subordinate to judges we elect
political opinions are our own
to publicize or privately discuss
no wire-tap camera or microphone
--without probable cause--should rat on us
legitimacy's built on public will
and never from the barrel of a gun
'though Mammon's altar's on Capitol Hill
we'd known what "honor" is when we'd begun
as County Sheriffs militarize ops
our Liberty's imperiled by our cops

private lens

incompetence is hard to self-assess
the top performers always harbor doubt
but rarely will the many who know less
appreciate the wisdom they're without
Dave Dunning leant this paradox his name
that no one had remarked upon 'til now
a funny hook on which to hang his fame
among the journal-reading middle-brow
the Trump phenomenon is scant surprise
from his perspective, all he does is Great!
there's never anyone who verifies
his only genius is exploiting hate
his stubby fingers strain for the brass ring
a Walter Mitty thinks himself a king

externalities

miraculous machines make steak from grass
a clever trick for a dumb herbivore
but if you would account for all the mass

you've also got to tally CH4

like kangaroos, cows spew out greenhouse gas
a peril to our ice-caps and earth's fate
but what--DownUnder--comes out a 'roo's ass
our ungulates prefer to eructate
mean symbiote conveys no benefit
the cow gives room and board but gets no gain
what's not absorbed would all be passed as shit
except Archaea vent clouds of methane
sea-levels rise and corals bleach from heat
because--in part--we're eating too much meat