LIGO II

the warp and weft of space-time resonate
a billion light-years from the stellar blast
if one takes pains enough to calibrate
no ref'rence frame is ever hard and fast
mere rock can't change the path of gravitons
no lens can focus them as you would light
a straighter shot than the fastest of guns
the spatial term falls out of time-of-flight
a novel sense augments our natal five
more alien than sonar used by whales
just frequency and when do they arrive
must carry their entire encoded tales
no glare of noon can dazzle LIGO's eye
a new telescopy surveys the sky

LIGO

the web of space-time rings like a great gong
a billion light-years from the stellar blast
as Einstein had assured us all along
no ref'rence frame is ever hard and fast
mere rock can't change the path of gravitons
no lens can focus them as you would light
a straighter shot than the fastest of guns
the spatial term falls out of time-of-flight
a novel sense augments our natal five
more alien than sonar chirps of whales
just frequency and when do they arrive
must carry their entire encoded tales
no glare of noon can dazzle LIGO's eye
a new telescopy surveys the sky

within you without you

why bar the doors of Meduseld at all
what perils do you fear that there reside
the beerhall's not protected by its wall
if bolt and bar are accessed from outside
a grand design before the age of flue
where heroes join to brag and drink and sup
embellishing their feats of derring-do
did Brego mean to keep the drunks pent up?
some drunks are prone to wrath, and some to mirth
and architects ignore this to their cost
what Tolkien's words evoke of MiddleEarth
must conjure a whole mind-set that's been lost
great books provoke us all to seek and find
erecting structures wholly in your mind

splittist

Mike Bloomberg smells an opportunity
there's no one who can unify the Right
in such a field, it seems to him that he
might sweep away some smoke and shed more light
a Jewish financier to take on Cruz
and all his snide allusions to New York
a One Percenter speaking for the Few
to guard the Banking Sector and its pork
beyond Manhattan, who'd flock to his cause
or do more sympathize with OCCUPY?
he sees the Big Banks' strengths but not their flaws
his shining city's all pie-in-the-sky
each vote for him comes out of Clinton's pool
the WallStreet bankers need but their one tool

perfect couple

the face of God appeared to Heidi Cruz
and so--the bible says--she should be dead
but since that left her nothing left to lose
she took the noxious little creep to bed
it's trite, I know, to say that "love is blind"
and politicians' kin are not fair game
but clinic'ly the dame's out of her mind
and Ted can't be entirely to blame
for ev'ry soul, there's someone in the world
and some are satisfied to mate in haste
so maybe creepy Ted found the right girl
there's no accounting for a woman's taste
judge Rehnquist found him clever as a clerk
but those who know Ted best know he's a jerk

keter shem tov

for Bernie Sanders an overt display
of Judaism's not the way he rolls
religion's not a card he's apt to play
to motivate his backers at the polls
haShomer haTzair formed his world view
'though some Americans will find it odd
they taught that what it means to be a Jew
is not dependent in belief in God
prophetic'ly, he speaks out for the poor
and rails at userers for hoarding wealth
and Hartford corporations charging more
than anyone should pay to guard their health
no price is high enough for his good name
'cause Bernie doesn't play the donors' game

liberty

to speak aloud what's better left unsaid
if not the law, still violates good taste
the snarky monologue inside your head
corrodes society when aired in haste
the penal code can only stake the lines
but ethics have to rule on what's inside
the law's too blunt a tool to make such fine
discriminations with a brush so wide
no legislature can prescribe what's good
while leaving citizens to live lives free
it lays out what one can't, not what one should
or risks devolving into tyranny
Free Speech is guaranteed because it's dear
yet what it means is anything but clear