Temptations

Galadriel held each one with her eye
inquiring what could make him shirk the quest
as goddesses probed Paris with their bribes
to say that of the three, he loved her best.
Proud Boromir was keen to try his hand
at playing hero to all MiddleEarth,
astride a continent at his command,
but over-confident in his own worth.
Wee folk displayed what bigger players lack;
humility to bear, and lose, the One.
With Gollum's aid, they pitched it in the Crack
of Doom, because that's what had to be done.

Stout hobbits made an end of the One Ring
while Sauron's gaze was elsewhere on a king.

Bond

Sean Connery hit big across the pond
where Yankees just don't care what he was not.
Sir Ian Fleming wrote an English Bond
but Hollywood went gaga for a Scot.
Forever faithful to  his highland roots
most films he headlined made a lot of bank.
Sean's weirdly fabulous in thigh-high boots
though critics--wrongly--brayed that Zardoz stank.
Sans anabolics, Mr. Universe
got his big break through sweat and lifting weights.
A world before the steroids' bulbous curse
is hard for younger fans to contemplate.

Sean's gone; he's done his Queen proud in the fray,
and Scotland's poised to exit the UK.

lowered expectation

Trump's desperate to show he wields control
igniting brushfires everywhere he can.
Joe Biden starts next year deep in a hole
the budget's blown before he's laid a plan.
Two Georgia run-offs hold the nation rapt
If Mitch holds there, Joe Biden's goose is plucked
The House may legislate, but there it's trapped
like greenhouse gases, and the planet's fucked.
The landmines Ike emplaced for JFK
from Bay of Pigs, to ground troops in Saigon..
are dwarfed by a whole world in disarray
And no one's sure we've seen the last of Don.
Don't look for boldness from Joe Biden's crew

but maybe they're the best that we can do.

last days

Obrien now confesses; Biden won
although he quails to contradict his boss.
The People spoke; one more election's done.
And TrumptyDumpty's fallen for a loss.
Before the year is out, he'll face he ax
for manifesting such temerity.
Trump's woefully intolerant of facts
that don't fit his bespoke reality.
Trump's legal budget's looking pretty short
for all the cases pending scant months hence.
He's spending 2021 in court
and urges donors to pay his defence.
Come January, Biden's up at bat
but first, we must defeat a cornered rat.

the mandate

The hole that Hoover dug, gave FDR 

a mandate for reforms long overdue.
Republicans were impotent to mar 
Progressive statutes when the Deal's all New.
A rear-guard action by the"Nine Old Men"
comprised a hurdle of another sort.
But they dropped their obstructive posture when
he threatened--credibly--to pack the court.
A new recession was bequeathed to Joe
and it's not clear his Senate will be Blue.

Beyond his basic impulse to go slow,

there may not be a lot that he can do.
Two Georgia run-off ere this year is through

will circumscribe how much Joe gets to do.

Now what?

Joe Biden's handlers won't let him explain

what higher vision he would implement.
No programs featured in his charm-campaign
to be the oldest-ever president.
To flip the Senate, prospect's looking dim;
no legislation's likely to get through.
The status-quo's been mighty good to him
He won't say what he will or will not do.

Jo Jorgensen got Joe across the line,

like Nader gave us Bush, instead of Gore.
Each vote she took from Biden cost Trump nine;

the crucial margin in the final score.

That Trumpty-Dumpty's fallen, we rejoice

but few are more than tepid with this choice.

Two-party/no choice

Joe Biden trusts the one-D voter map
that he inherited from Hillary.
Predictably, the correlation's crap
when one proceeds from such a fallacy.
Progressive policies win big in polls
But neither major party wants to hear
Joe's Wall Street donors know they're in control
Between these two old men, there's naught they fear.

And now, it seems the Senate may stay Red
there's nothing that they're going to enact.
Joe's program--if he had one--is born dead.
That's not a loss, but not a "win" in fact.
Trump's gone; that's cause to celebrate!
Now, climate dies while Joe procrastinates.

Two wings, one bird

The Sanders faithful pencil in his name
disdaining any hint of compromise.
Where major parties look too much the same,
they're not endorsing either of these guys.
Two parties serving Bankers' venal dreams
are unresponsive to the People's voice.
So faithful to the Few who wield the means
the ballot lists both names, but no real choice.
Duoarchy simplifies a complex space;
most issues tacitly go unaddressed.
Few voters find a champion in this race
who'll advocate the course they're sure is best.
That "nothing's gonna change", as Biden's preached
portends democracy's beyond our reach.