value IV

Trump dropped a pretty curtsy to the king
defying protocols of what he ought

bedazzled by the spectacle and bling

Trump's got no loyalties, but can be bought

our allies wince to think that Riyadh's whore

commands our globe-encircling armament
and seeks to profit bigly in a war

morality just bores this President
the wisest can't anticipate what's next
no principle, no policy, no creed
lends continuity to his next text

the only constant theme's his endless greed
emoluments from such a brutal State
corrupt the country better men made great

value III

Trump dropped a pretty curtsy to the king
defying protocols of what he ought

bedazzled by the spectacle and bling
affection from this putz is cheaply bought

our allies wince to think that Riyadh's tool
commands our globe-encircling armament
no pacts foresaw that such an arrant fool
could claim the office of the President
the wisest can't anticipate what's next
no principle, no policy, no creed
constrains what he'll blurt out in shabbos texts
when no one's reading proof to mask his greed
emoluments from such a brutal State
corrupt the country better men made great

value II

Trump dropped a pretty curtsy to the king
but warned his staffers sternly not to bow
bedazzled by the spectacle and bling
and ignorant what protocols allow
our allies wince to think that Riyadh's tool
commands our globe-encircling armament
no pacts foresaw that such an arrant fool
could claim the office of the President
the wisest can't anticipate what's next
no principle, no policy, no creed
constrains what he'll blurt out in shabbos texts
when no one's reading proof to mask his greed
emoluments from such a brutal State
corrupt the country better men made great

value

the Donald dropped a curtsy to the king
who'd warned his staffers sternly not to bow,
bedazzled by the spectacle and bling,
and ignorant what protocols allow.
Our allies wince to  see that Riyadh's tool
commands our military armament;
no pacts foresaw that such an arrant fool
could claim the office of the President.
The wisest can't anticipate what's next;
no principle, no policy, no creed,
constrains what he'll blurt out in shabbos texts,
when no one's reading proof to mask his greed.
Emoluments from such a brutal State
corrupt what better men had made so great

senile disinhibition

With passing time, Trump's flailings get more wild;
each lie more garish than what came before.
As disinhibited as  any child,
but he's empowered to make peace, or war.
The Montenegrin minister's a gent
who shrugged to be so rudely shoved aside.
A Texan would have decked our president;
three courts in five would find him justified.
The world awaits the signal from Mike Pence
that he concedes it's gone on long enough.
To make the case for Trump's incompetence
with what he's done of late, won't be too tough.
The 25th amendment may prove key
to spare our planet Trump's senility.

the long arm

Bob Mueller's unretired, and back at work
who's served administrations, Red, and Blue
next month, he could be fired by this same jerk
for acting as good conscience bids him do
a Special Prosecutor's what we need
who answers to the Law, but to no man
pursuing evidence where it may lead
no matter where the causal chain began
obstructing justice turned off Nixon's friends
who'd blockd impeachment on the Senate floor
his warp and weft of lies was all loose ends
this marked the point where they could bend no more
this fetid swamp in which our wheels are mired
will only spread 'til Trump's been tried, and fired

Lookie what I got! II

a president four decades past his peak
whose intellect is bigly on the wane
'though sober, Trump's still prone to brag and leak
Hum-Int just flushed more assets down the drain
to grant him clearance made alarm bells ring
he can't be trusted home, or on the roads
this churl who thinks it's fun to play the king's
entrusted with our nuclear launch codes
the Russians played him like a violin
and promise--if he's good--he'll get a toy
so KGB recorders walk right in
and Donnie thinks himself a clever boy
the puppy Putin'd nurtured's running wild
our planet's fate's held hostage to this child

second time as farce II

James Comey kept the memo Trump had sent
beseeching him to give Mike Flynn a pass
strange treasure, but Jim knew just what it meant
with this missive, he owned his boss' ass
the ten-year term was meant to insulate
directors from most partisan affairs
Trump erred to think he could intimidate
the man who'd dragged mob bosses from their lairs
obstructing justice brought Dick Nixon down
and Comey knows full well that precedent
his files on all the scandals in this town
could hang an elephant--or president
the path that Nixon's plumbers trod so well
leads Trump, and Page, and Sessions, straight to Hell

Lookie what I got!

a president who should be in rehab
whose intellect is bigly on the wane
'though sober, Trump's still prone to brag and blab
Hum-Int just flushed more assets down the drain
to grant him clearance made alarm bells ring
he can't be trusted home, or on the roads
this churl who thinks it's fun to play the king's
entrusted with our nuclear launch codes
the Russians played him like a violin
and promise--if he's good--he'll get a toy
so KGB recorders walk right in
and Donnie thinks himself a clever boy
the puppy Putin'd nurtured's running wild
our planet's fate's held hostage to this child

second time as farce

obstructing justice brought Dick Nixon down
but Trump's too arrogant to pay due heed
the world's aghast to watch this arrant clown
repeating history to slake his greed
Jim Comey lived to prosecute the mob
investigating Putin's no new thing
but Trump's outraged he'd dare to do his job
he thinks himself above the law, a king
McConnell guards his back; he's holding fast
presuming Orrin Hatch will keep his seat
but no one wed to Donald's sure to last
the GOP could join him in defeat
our Ship of State could shatter on these rocks
if no one fills the shoes of Archie Cox

Obstruction

Obstructing Justice laid Dick Nixon low
but Donald Trump's too arrogant to learn
a fool to fire the few who'd tell him "no"
he'll crash his party's fortunes in his turn
Trump's avarice is not James Comey's flaw
he lived for prosecutions of the mob
religiously devoted to the Law
unswerving in the conduct of his job
no common ground on which these two might meet
if Donald deigned to hear another's voice
as Watergate seems slated to repeat
these two are set to crash, without a choice
McConnell means to block this lawsuit's path
but may yet fold before Jim Comey's wrath

top angler

Unflapping, as if painted on the sky,
her pinions balanced on the April breeze
no meal escapes her glitt'ring yellow eye
who perches on the air, as if in trees.
The osprey stoops, our breaths and heartbeats pause
she exits dreamtime, very much awake.
A trout now thrashes dumbly in her claws
that thought itself the big fish in this lake.
The timeless drama, predator and prey
the plumpest sacrifice the waters give
will feed her nestlings for another day
unless fish die, their predators can't live.
To mourn this death too much would be absurd;
my sympathy's entirely with the bird.

catharsis

unflapping, crucified against the sky
her pinions balanced on the April breeze
no fleeting ripple can escape her eye
who perches on the air, as if in trees
the osprey stoops, our breaths and heartbeats pause
she exits dreamtime, very much awake
a trout now thrashes dumbly in her claws
that thought itself the big fish in this lake
the timeless drama, predator and prey
the plumpest sacrifice the waters give
will feed her nestlings for another day
unless fish die, their predators can't live
to mourn this death too much would be absurd
my sympathy's entirely with the bird

score!

unflapping, crucified against the sky
her pinions balanced on the April breeze
no quarry can escape her  scanning eyes
who perches on the air, as if in trees
the osprey stoops, our breaths and heartbeats pause
she exits dreamtime, very much awake
a trout now thrashes dumbly in her claws
that thought itself the big fish in this lake
the timeless drama, predator and prey
the plumpest sacrifice the waters give
will feed her nestlings for another day
unless fish die, what piscivores could live
to mourn this death too much would be absurd
my sympathy's entirely with the bird

giant mystery

Cassini showed us Saturn's atmosphere
convecting like to soar there should be fun
but only nine percent of what shines here
impinges there, so distant from the sun
the latent heat ammonia gas conceals
to form a cloud, and rain back towards the core
is barely half what water vapor feels
but there, when driven less, the storms rage more
ongoing gravitational collapse
could keep gas giants warmer than their peers
but I'd expect that's done in weeks, perhaps
and should be spent before four billion years.
The second-biggest planet in night's sky
has raging tempests. No one can say why

the sky's the limit

for want of rotors, wings reciprocate
evolving out of parts already known.
The menu's fixed from which to innovate
'though some use exoskeleta, some bone.
The pterosaurs are gone, they've quit the skies.
The niche awaits a predator that soars.
For now, it's only gnats and dragonflies
exploiting lift in ridge, and wave, and cores.
The eagle spreads her pinions to the breeze
and gives herself to rising air's embrace.
Convection holds the liberating keys
for those not built to flap, who love the chase.
The latest innovators on the wing,
chiroptera squeeze in where birds are king.