Past tense

The mind that stole Supreme Court seats for fun
no longer animates the turtle's shell.
McConnell's rule in Washington is done;
but he's reserved a special place in Hell.
Tripartite governments been known to work
"ambition [can] be made to counteract..."
but not collaborating with a jerk,

who won't concede the plainest point of fact.
Kentuckians deserve to have a voice
in how we're gonna divvy up the tab.
Beshears must let them verbalize their choice
since Mitch is chilling out on his morgue slab.
A shell as empty as an angler's float
must not control the Senate in a vote.

Let it go

McConnell's gone; his party won't admit
that nothing animates the Turtle's shell.
Todd Blanche's nomination takes the hit;
his chance of confirmation trends towards Hell.
Beshears now feels the urgency to act
to fill the Seat that corpse still occupies.
Behind the smoke and mirrors, there's a fact;
what had been Mitch, is now attracting flies.
Kentuckians have rights we can't forget
by propping up a stiff to fill the seat,
their basic needs just aren't being met
where leaders have no motive to compete.
Tripartite government's had a good run
but if we let this stand, our day is done.

humiliation

The reparations Trump agreed to pay
-- outrageously, it's far beyond his writ --
won't make the IRGC go away.
They've got him by the balls; he's in deep shit.
Elections loom; no candidate will stand
for spending that acknowledges this loss.
The country's bigger than one orange man,
and nothing justifies such grievous cost.
Humiliated by the better man
like when his daddy spanked him as a boy.
Trump's getting throat-fucked daily in Iran.
And only Putin knows what he enjoys.
Two parties, neither one is in control
and no one's speaking to our nation's soul.

new Treaty of Versailles

Iranians see leverage increase;
with passing weeks, the US mid-terms loom.
Trump's allies will be doomed if there's no peace,
and that's a world away from MoU.
The foreign war he'd sworn he wouldn't start
won't be resolve just 'cause he offers cash.
The MAGA base is apt to fall apart
if we're still paying through the nose for gas.
Humiliated in the shipping lanes,
Trump vents his wrath on Bibi in his turn.
As doomed as Putin's venture in Ukraine,
each gets to pay for everything he's burned.
'Though Congress may repudiate this cost
one must be blind to not perceive this loss.

Heroism

Proud Boromir appealed to Denethor
like Isaac's first-born, skilled at Fish and Game.
The kind of guy men follow into war,
but ever thirsting for the mob's acclaim.
Covertly, Faramir sustains their world
without his brother's appetite for praise.
Not incidentally, he'll get the girl
who rescued Gondor in its darkest days.
Core Christian virtues, Milton would endorse
must undergird the core of MIddleEarth.
Humility, not showy feats of force
characterize the hero of great worth.
Big men might find Redemption as they died
but Sam's the hero wholly purged of Pride.

Plausible Deniability

Zeus nods his head; Olympus toes the line;
gods won't engage this combat any more.
Hereafter, they'll just meddle with men's minds,
while Greeks and Trojans prosecute their war.
Athena deems this ruling went her way;
the contest will be played out on her field.
She's picked the champions whom she can sway
and doesn't need the fools who doubt She's real.
That leaves the demigod; what man could stand
against Achilles, when he deigns to fight?
Apollo wrought a bow for Paris' hand;
His breath just nudged an arrow in its flight.
Our hands are all gods have, to work their will
but Eros plays us all like puppets, still.

Only To Rise Again

Age-long they fell, Olorin and his foe
and 'though in freefall, never paused their fight.
drol spectacle for nameless Things below,
before ascending to the snow-capped height.
Matched Maiar, each a specialist in fire,
ablaze like Glorfindel at Bruinen.
As if the noon day sun were turned up higher,
they'd scorch the retinas of elves, or men.
That stair's destroyed; there could be no retreat,
had either pondered that he might survive.
The Balrog's Middleearth time's now complete;
the wizard's inexplicably alive.
Their seismic combat might not mean a thing
except to rearguard Frodo, and the Ring.