Dereliction of Duty

Bob McNamara thought the Russian bomb
made total warfare wholly obsolete
a provocation of North Vietnam
could drag their patron in, and risk defeat
with Johnson in his Secretary's spell
the JCS were wounded in their pride
LeMay barked we should bomb them all to Hell
but military qualms were swept aside
had Ho and Johnson viewed the world the same
his 'Graduated Pressure" might have won
but one was uncommitted to the game
the other, wouldn't rest 'til it was done
accountants weighed each calibrated stroke
while thousands died in service to a joke

dire straits II

Alzheimer's steals the words he gropes to find
to fill the gaps, he must extemporize
our president's no longer of sound mind
good governance can't stand on boasts and lies
as Trump's dementia burgeons, day by day
we tread new turf where no one's gone before
we try to guess what he had meant to say
at risk of a  whole new Korean War
our 25th Amendment needs Mike Pence
to deem the president's gone 'round the bend
to save the world from Trump's incompetence
we need adults on whom we can depend
'though Pence would be Dominionists' own tool
we can't endure this  babbling, senile  fool

dire straits

Alzheimer's steals the words he gropes to find
to fill the gaps, he must extemporize
our president's no longer of sound mind
and government can't run on boasts and lies
as Trump's dementia burgeons, day by day
we tread new turf where no one's gone before
we try to guess what he had meant to say
at risk of a  whole new Korean War
our 25th Amendment needs Mike Pence
to deem the president's gone 'round the bend
to save the world from Trump's incompetence
we need adults on whom we can depend
'though Pence would be a RightWing Christian tool
we can't endure the  babbling's of this fool

generational change

O'Reilly's out, 'though Hannity's still there
big advertisers let their wrath be known
the weren't gonna underwrite his air-
time. Let Bill find some sponsors of his own
the Russians fed the FauxNew noise machine
undocumented dirt on Hillary
but there's not tenure on the Donald's team
Trump's unconstrained by debts, or loyalty
as Rupert fades, new Murdochs take the reins
too many lawsuits piled up in Bill's lap
the faces change, but business stays the same
three hundred cable channels hawking crap

purveyors of fake news get paid for eyes

until we penalize them for their lies

heads will roll

O'Reilly's out, 'though Hannity's still there
big advertisers let their wrath be known
the weren't gonna underwrite his air-
time. Let Bill find some sponsors of his own
the Russians fed the FauxNew noise machine
undocumented dirt on Hillary
but there's not tenure on the Donald's team
Trump's unconstrained by debts, or loyalty
as Rupert fades, new Murdochs take the reins
too many lawsuits piled up in Bill's lap
the faces change, but business stays the same
three hundred cable channels hawking crap
twin parodist who played at casting news
blamed all our nation's failings on the Jews

salvage operations

Ivanka tries to make him work from notes
his ramblings give the children scary dreams
his improv skills won't win him any votes
and Twitter's laughing at his stupid memes
each month, more words are trickier to find
Alzheimers steals them on soft padded feet
it's plain that Donald Trump has lost his mind
degeneration's clear, 'though incomplete
the 25th amendment sets no test
for when we ought to oust him for Mike Pence
in such a strait, no option's good; at best
we'll settle for a glimpse of competence
to vote him in, then shove this fool aside
is cause for consternation, not for pride

perdition

the Mormons on my doorstep want to know
"Have you found Jesus? Are you on His side?
Or are you in the thrall of his old Foe?"
"I didn't know you'd lost him" I replied
"But have you file a 'missing kids' report?"
they smiled, uncomprehending and explained
the mortal perils of a glib retort
"but there's a private planet to be gained!"
"It's often parents wrestling for control;
the kids get used as pawns in a divorce"
they closed their books and marked me a lost soul
who won't be saved except by use of force.
They pedaled on, convinced it's me that's odd;
perhaps my neighbor'd seen their truant god.

experimentalists

legumes and ship-worms host archaean genes
a mobile larder when the table's bare
a miracle of nano-tech machines
that fix dinitrogen out of thin air
and other molluscs photosynthesize
at least their symbiotes pull off the stunt
the giant clams use light, 'though they lack eyes
as sessile farmers, they don't have to hunt
but octopus do other chemistry
converting tryptophan to night-hued ink
evolving big brains independently
the sole invertebrate that's learned to think
protean molluscs staked out ev'ry niche
their boneless forms incomparably rich

transitions

McFarland's banished; church bells ought to peal

McMaster gets to own his seat at court

to shape a strategy--not just a deal

while she pontificates from Singapore

the cabinet's adults might find a voice

once Cohen-Watnick's swept aside as well

Mike Pence seems the least bad of such a choice

to salvage that's not grim as Hell

three months of lies, Americans are tired

of empty promises and trumpery

until this whole administration's fired

we're failed custodians of Liberty

Jon Ossoff where Tom Price sat's a good start

just--maybe--we're beginning to get smart

that was a good king!

his people love him, but still, there's no son
to stand with Beowulf against the worm
the thanes devour his board, but quit and run
against such terror, no man's knees are firm
now, only Wiglaf's doing the right thing
of all who swore they serve at his command
a piddling army for the great Geat king
to fend off devastation from the land
from savior to martyr, he's complete
while still alive, he's half-way deified
while bards still sing the praises of this Geat
it's just his earthly trappings that have died
the dragon proved the hero's grimmest foe
but death in battle's the grand way to go

memories

bacteria use CRISPR with CAS9
to fend off phages that they've seen before
encoded in their own genetic line
remembrances of the ongoing war
a selfish meme, intent to multiply
applies selective pressures on its host
which counters, if it isn't gonna die
a rational response, that needs no ghost
immunity requires a memory
to store a gallery of rogues and find
a complement to an old enemy
a smart riposte need not imply a mind
darwinians show 'how' but never 'why'
Life needs no grand Designer from on High

hero's journey

young Beowulf's virility, not charm
won acclamation from his hosts, the Danes
no subtle stratagem rent Grendel's arm
this Geat's renowned for muscles, not for brains
with passing years, he learned to strategize
to slay the dragon preying on his land
he found his nobles useless as allies
they'd take his gold, but balk at his command
just he and Wiglaf 'gainst the raging worm
two men alone face teeth, and stench, and heat
five decades' an heroic regal term
to cap the reputation of this Geat
the hero can't pass peaceful in his bed
to leave a song worth singing when he's dead

Punch and Judy

Steve Bannon and the Kushners are at war
competing for the president's black soul
no cabinet official can do more
from day to day, these three are in control
Trump's shallow mind can't entertain a doubt
he snores serene in puerile certainty
on matters that he's never thought about
he thinks himself the world's authority
the Dunning-Kruger paradigm writ large
the slightest gust could sink our Ship of State
as if it were a wormy garbage barge
the helmsman's just deluded that all's great
how long before the president's inspired
to tell Rasputin that his ass is fired

contingencies

One roadway ramifies from Bilbo's door
traversing Middleearth from ice, to sand.
Each crossroads, choices leap from two, to four;
no telling--once embarked--where one may land.
It's hindsight that imbues a life with plot
explaining turnings chosen on a whim
imputing there's cognition where there's not.
And others' epics all depend on him.
His smoking buddy proved a puissant mage;
a vagrant in the tavern proved a king.
The forces that would clash in this Third Age
converged on Frodo and his precious ring.
Vicissitudes test hobbit's wits, or man's;
life happens while you're making other plans

regulatory capture

our DoJ's half-staffed and strangely mute
if Bannon's tools were fired, 'twould be no loss.
Jeff Sessions lacks the will to prosecute
unethical behavior by his boss.
Emoluments from princes are proscribed,
but Madison would not believe the breadth
of Trump's transgressions, had they been described
that warrant either banishment, or death.
A president without a sense of shame,
has staffed the WhiteHouse with his private mob
a lot of whom bear his own family name
who feather their own nests while on the job.
The nation's hens are guarded by a fox
who sees no need to hire an Archie Cox.

the journey

beneath the mountain, far from prying eyes
the narrative stalled out at Balin's tomb
there, Frodo lost the counsel of the wise
when Gandalf held the bridge of Khazad-dûm
no elven lords would prosecute this war
the balance teetered on a Hobbit's worth
to seal what Isildur had failed before
midwives to the Fourth Age of MiddleEarth.
One road spreads ever forth from Bilbo's door
traversing realms from ice to burning sands
adventure starting with a dragon's hoard
took many turns to reach the deathless lands
the hero's exiled, far from board and bed
to earn the praise of bards when he's long dead

strategic distraction

Trump warned the Russians; airstrips would be struck

their pilots must not be there on the ground

He felt he had to claim to give a fuck

his ratings trend inexorably down

a sham, to show he's not in Putin's debt

no planes were crippled in the noise attack

the target was to make the Press forget

the Kremlin'd put him in, and had his back

a hundred million more for Raytheon

let media work out who's getting rich

to change the matter they'd been focused on

the thousand ways that Trump's been Putin's bitch

the press reporting on our demagogue

must not allow this tail to wag the dog

pounding sand

Trump warned the Russians; airstrips would be hit
their pilots must not be there on the ground
Assad would have to make the best of it
at least his warplanes shouldn't be around
a sham, to show he's not in Putin's debt
no planes were crippled in the noise attack
the target was to make the Press forget
the Kremlin'd put him in, and had his back
a hundred million more for Raytheon
let media work out who's getting rich
to change the matter they'd been focused on
the thousand ways that Trump's been Putin's bitch
the press reporting on our demagogue
must not allow this tail to wag the dog

horizons

the Clovis people can't have been the first
we've found tools made millenia before
and yet, their devastation was the worst
for megafauna, they struck like a war
a world of giants gone, with scarce a trace
their local equilibrium upset
uncautious of this upstart human race
within a thousand years, they'd all been et
how many colonies failed to take root
like Greenland's Vikings flourished for a day
but seeking el Dorado and its loot
have faded like a wisp of smoke, away
who knows how much a single species' worth
ourselves, we've been a plague upon this Earth

meddling

Ike put advisors into Vietnam
but no one thought to tell John Kennedy
the Dulles brothers didn't give a damn;
they'd get deferments for their progeny
and Turks deployed out missiles in their East
one more of Eisenhower's reckless bets
one more surprise, and this one not the least
at least to Jack, if not the Soviets
and Bay of Pigs was icing on the top
an amateurish job, thrown for a loss
as if he'd run to rescue their Black Op
the president reminded them who's boss
transition in strategic disarray
was orchestrated by "our" CIA

overkill

befuddled codger golfs when he should work
and leaves the office for his kids to run
the Kremlin spent good money for this jerk
a jest that only Putin thought was fun
to hamstring Hillary had been Vlad's goal
to curb her influences overseas
but she contrived to lose to his paid mole
and dragged down our republic to its knees
atomic peril flares as tempers fray
Trump's every bit as childish as young Kim
unable to distinguish shades of gray
a Manichean world-view blinkers him
his children may inherit smoking sand
our planet's fate's clutched in his stubby hand

times change

Miranda brought rhymed verse back into vogue

his Hamilton's the smash hit of the age

to cast a banker as a dashing rogue

infused new spirit into New York's stage

pentameter trips lightly off the tongue

when Mamet's characters connive and scheme

but Hamilton's libretto must be sung

to conjure history as in a dream

like hemlines, literary fashions drift

one bad review could ring your curtain down

but if they're raves, the format gets a lift

the playwright's hailed the hero of the town

Elizabethan sonnets are passé

but if they're coming back's not mine to say

bigly frail

Finasteride sprouts straw on Donald's pate
a ratty simulacrum of lost youth
and sycophants assure him it looks "great"
unwilling to enrage him with the truth
beneath that scalp, the side-effects are dire
emotionally frail, and impotent
now journalists've caught on that he's a liar
it's not much fun to be the president
his doctor says he needs his exercise
but when he golfs, he always drives a cart
he counts his calories, but always lies
his failing brain's more plaque-clogged than his heart
if he'd just convalesce on some warm beach
he'd save us all the bother to impeach

druggie

Finasteride preserves the Donald's hair
that long ago would have been gone on top
although his pate would look more honest, bare
without that rank orangutanish mop
unconscious he's a clown in others' eyes
Trump tells his mirror self he's looking great
his retinue's complicit in those lies
their greatest talent's to dissimulate
beneath his scalp, the side-effects are grim
the impotence is not the worst of it
emotional tsunamis pummel him
and judgement--that was weak--has gone to shit
a perilous dependence on this drug
to insulate his ego from a rug

ejector seat

Mike Pence is designated to stay clean
from all Trump's scandals, be they large or small
perceived to be apart from the machine
surviving their inevitable fall
He buys Trump cred with the Religious Right
by public invocations of our Lord
good-will account for the upcoming fight.
The credibility of Jerry Ford
was in the balance after Watergate
to pardon unenumerated crimes
the crook that half the planet loved to hate
in simple justice, would be serving time.
The pardon-power of our presidents
may be why Trump shared billing with Mike Pence

checkpoint

blockade of PD-1 lets T-cells whack
some cancers that had learned to skate on by
disregulating aut-immune attack
malignant tumors--sometimes--melt and die
redundant safeguards keep the dogs in check
to ward self-tissues from such civil war
instead of passing through one bottleneck
with PD-1, there's CTLA-4
but when such interventions go awry
T-leukocytes proliferate in haste
whole host self-tissues shrivel up and die
immune attack lays the whole patient waste
immuno-onco's no mere passing fad
but when it misses, things go really bad