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