apocalypse now

Mark Esper saw no shred of evidence
to justify Trump's failure to consult.
This Soleimani strike's the work of Pence;
Iran-Hawks are ascendent in Trump's cult.
Our Framers saw this problem long before,
reserving unto Congress the sole call.
Executives are quick to rush to war,
while foisting off the costs onto us all.
America's been slow to come to grips
with Generation Joshua's dark scheme.
We--who don't long for Apocalypse--
are damned to burn in Pompeo's wet-dream.
Pathetically, the orange demagogue
thinks no one sees he's playing 'wag the dog'.

Great Game

Initiative's Trumpty's for the nonce
To move towards Peace, or choose to push toward war.
Rouhani calibrated his response,
Debris smokes where our 'copters crouched before.
Distracting press from Trump's ongoing crimes
Seemed urgent, 'though Iran posed no new threat.
The existential menace of our times
is Donald; no one's likely to forget.
Pompeo's singing Flynn's bellicose tune
and Hannity invests in making Arms
But Tucker Carlson's not that kind of loon
and still hopes he can mitigate this harm.
This child who doesn't grasp "diplomacy"
may drag the planet into World War Three

strategy

Iraq wants U.S. troops to pack and leave,
because we can't be trusted to behave.
Ironically, it's easy to believe
that Soleimani's laughing in his grave.
The Persians see our empire in retreat
they're well positioned to exploit the lack.
A Western buffer country would be sweet,
in case the Sunni Arabs might attack.
One martyrdom advances Persia's cause.
And Trump has volunteered to take the blame
his blatant violation of all laws
has handed better strategists the game.
Now, only Pence can save us from Trump's mess;
 he never should have played Zarif at chess.

signs and portents

Impeachment looms, the mobs howl in the streets
a frantic president feels  pressed  to act
as soon as he's sent off these batshit tweets,
he'll tell "his generals" they must distract
Americans from his incompetence.
James Mattis always counseled more control
but maybe he was secretly for Pence?
Trump found a docile toady for that role.
Rouhani's heard this sort of crap before
and knows that Trump is--mostly--empty noise.
But voters rally to a foreign war;
and Persia's eye-brow deep in jobless boys.
pathetically, the orange demagogue
thinks no one sees he's playing 'wag the dog'.

projecting force

John Bolton's out; his schemes for war roll on
his acolyte O'Brien stays the course.
The planet's ills are all  blamed on Iran
on data misinterpreted, or worse.
A dozen players want to see this fight
from Netanyahu to the MEK.
The  surge in crude oil prices seems alright
if your exporting and not in the fray.
Iranians just want to live their lives;
the Mullahs kept the bargain, for their part
Obama's pact was scrapped by 45
It's not the Persians acting black at heart.
Domestic politics drive the world scene
demanding victims to the War Machine.

Donald the unadvised

John Bolton's man O'Brien's NSA
sustantively, no change from what's before.
The soporific patter of his trade
conceals a predermined course for war.
Some libertarians in Trumpty's base
may blanch at the unjustified expense.
But no one's gonna say it to his face;
the only tax they'll vote for's for Offense.
As arbiter of what's accepted fact
gatekeeper of the president's news-feed,
the post requires more than Bolton's tact:
advisor to a fool who does not read.
Trump only hires advisors dumb as rocks;
"intelligence"--for him--must come from Fox.

wag the dog

A Persian war may bring the Press to heel
that had been clamoring for Trumpty's head.
If he can't plagiarize Obama's deal
he'll bleat that they're dishonoring the dead.
A foreign fight might keep support in line
as dissidents demur to march, or speak.
Coerced allegiance while we're in war-time
appeals to Trumpty-Dumpty--'cause he's weak.
Bush-41 attempted this same hack.
When Glasspie lured Saddam to seize Kuwait.
But Schwarzkopf made such short work of Iraq
Bill Clinton left George gasping at the gate.
It's futile asking what this one is for;
since Carter, presidents each launch their war.

tot-in-chief

Sean Hannity's lost credibility;
he screamed to bomb Iran, but no bombs fell.
As if some fleeting whiff of sanity
moved Trump to bid Rasputin 'go to Hell'.
Steve Bannon's long since left, and took his kit
Trump worried we'd discern who wore the pants. 
Predictably, that bromance went to shit
with acrimony and wild coke-fueled rants.
No grown-up's ever really held Trump's leash;
advice elicits threats and screams of rage.
as long as Mitch refuses to impeach
he'll pout and strut his hour upon the stage.
Each month, a staffer flips, and pleads, and sings
but none reveals who pulls the puppet's strings.

rudderless

Trump's slavering for war when Hannity
is ranting on the White House TV set.
But Tucker Carlson's preaching sanity.
And so we haven't bombed the Persians--yet.
McDonnell-Douglas stock price tends to grow
on rumors that we're sending in our boys.
But no one's certain in this to-and-fro
who's setting policy, and what's just noise.
The world's economy's poised on the brink
for fear the tot-in-chief does something brash.
If Trumpty-Dumpty acts, instead of thinks,
The price of oil could soar, while markets crash.
Intent to show himself the peer of kings,
Trump can't discern how FauxNews pulls his strings.

used

It's time that we re-list the MEK
a "Terrorist Group" like we used to do.
Long years, they've kept John Bolton in their pay;
"our" Foreign Policy's set by their tool.
To frame Iran for tankers they've attacked,
won't fool a Sanders, Warren, or a Gore.
But Trump trusts Fox as if their crap were fact
and means to lead our nation into war.
Obama balked the powers that would use
our military to enact their ends.
But feckless Senators refuse to choose
and Hannity assures Trump that they'll bend.
A president enthralled with shiny bling
can't see the threat from those who'd pull his string.

out of his depth

The "fucking moron" tossed Obama's deal
expecting he could renegotiate
based on no evidence but his gut-feel
as if his Midas-touch made all things great.
Our allies warned us, he'd be on his own
if he reneged on what Obama'd signed.
New sanctions would be toothless, all alone.
But in his arrogance, he paid no mind.
For Putin, high gas prices mean more gold;
he'll gouge the Poles and Germans while he can.
Trump's sanctions reinforce his stranglehold,
suppressing competition from Iran.
In straits to vex the smoothest diplomat,
a world's entrusted to this preening brat.

old pro

Zarif could teach a Hogwart's class, or five

on how to get a price below a 'steal'

and leave the merchant grateful he's alive

and only lost his garment in the deal.

This man Trump thinks he'll out-negotiate
could sell a snowball to an Eskimo.
The egotistic fool, convinced he's great
has no idea how badly this could go.
At ease in half a dozen worldly tongues
each ambiguity's a chosen tool.
Where Trump can't finish sentences in one
a master haggler, picked on by a fool.
What madness drives this puerile orange brat
to try to scam a black-belt diplomat?

big league

Iran's Zarif denies he backs Assad
they're merely hand-in-hand against the threat
of al-Baghdadi, who insists that God
won't hear except from ISIL's minaret.
This man Trump thinks he'll out-negotiate
could sell a snowball to an Eskimo.
The egotistic fool, convinced he's great
has no idea how badly this could go.
At ease in half a dozen worldly tongues
each ambiguity's a chosen tool.
Where Trump can't finish sentences in one
a master haggler, picked on by a fool.
What madness drives this puerile orange brat
to try to scam a black-belt diplomat?

brinks

The Mullahs sent the Quds brigade to Homs
projecting power closer to Riyadh.
But likewise, within range of hostile bombs;
fourteen more shaheedin drew close to God.
For Bibi, four near-neighbors are enough
those know they'd bear the cost of an attack.
To take a Persian pawn just shows he's tough
and no one wants to be the next Iraq.
'Though Putin's miffed he hadn't seen the plan
Israelis knew no Russian blood'd be spilled.
They tracked his mercenaries to the man.
No one of any notice would be killed.
A proxy war heats up in the Levant,
as Trump throws every switch he's told he can't.

war-monger

Why Adelson backs Bolton, one can doubt
it might be 'cause he likes Trump's Muslim Ban
but--odds are--what it's really all about
he want's regime-change, this time in Iran.
It's not enough we killed Saddam Hussein;
his buddy Bibi means to call Trump's shots.
And neither feels the grieving mother's pain
when someone sends her son home in a box.
A world of experts Trump treats with disdain;
no egg-head's gonna be the one he'll choose.
No insight penetrates his shriveled brain;
Trump picks his inner circle from FauxNews.
The oligarchs' agenda's not our own
but Murdoch'd have us kneeling at this throne.

rumblings

Tunisians prospered in the Arab Spring
Egyptians came out worse than they began
for most, the uproar didn't gain a thing
The big show's slowly brewing in Iran.
The Persian Revolution's back in gear
that stalled the week that Michael Jackson passed.
This new wave has no leader, and no fear
The Mullahs may account to God, at last.
Their generation never knew the Shah
and never suffered under his Savak
but they're so over theocratic law
they want the global membership cards back.
The Rightward tide of Sisi, Trump, and Xi
may break a last; the kids want to breath free.

Pendulum

The Persian Revolution's on again
that stalled the week that Michael Jackson passed.
Green shoots, that promised liberation then
may yet be trees, but change is rarely fast.
The generation that threw off the Shah
condemned their daughters to lives swathed in black.
But--growing tired of theocratic law--
their grandkids mean to wrest their freedoms back.
Rouhani gave the Mullahs a veneer
to  mask their autocratic Iron Fist
but he's a lot less Left than he'd appear
they'd nominated him to head their list.
When even Saudis try to modernize
embittered Persian Youth feel called to rise.

signs and portents

Both young, and old, enraptured, scan the sky
Trump pauses twittering, no dogs dare bark
Carl Sagan's voice is heard, intoning why
when Fenris eats the Sun, the world falls dark.
Twice nineteen years since these three orbs aligned
presaging Khomeini's return to Qom.
this one sparks fantasies in Pence's mind
the omens point to Trump's impending doom.
Celestial clockwork's too arcane for most
who'd rather turn to clergy to explain
eclipses, or the meaning of a ghost
but never think to exercise their brain.
The wonders of the cosmos are unfurled
as shadows of the moon engulf our world

Auspices

Both young, and old, enraptured, scan the sky
Trump pauses twittering, no dogs dare bark
Carl Sagan's voice is heard, intoning why
when Fenris eats the Sun, the world falls dark.
Two score less two since we've seen such a sight
presaging Khomeini's return to Qom.
And now, we pray this micro-taste of night
elates Mike Pence, announcing Donald's doom.
Celestial clockwork's too arcane for most
who'd rather turn to clergy to explain
eclipses, or the meaning of a ghost
but never think to exercise their brain.
The wonders of the cosmos are unfurled
as shadow of the moon engulfs our world

united front

Ahmadinejad bolstered the Likud
and got--in trade--help on the Persian Street
opposed in policies, alike in mood
so East, so West that at the poles they meet
George Orwell taught us that external threats
can mobilize a voter-base at home
no matter how intemperate it gets
it guarantees more cash for IronDome
but since Ahmadinejad's off the scene
and since the Persian rhetoric's becalmed
it's Bibi who's outrageous in his spleen
obsessive in the matter of the bomb
when not at war, Israelis fight for sport
and only unify at last resort