Winter

                                                 WINTER

It is winter.
The land is frozen,
The water is frozen,
The air is frozen
And our voices freeze in the frigid air.
Ice is everywhere
And the people are frozen.
Their hearts are frozen.
Their thoughts are frozen.
Ice has them in its grip
And they dare not take a step,
Or the dangerous ice
May crack beneath them.
They may plunge into the crevasse.
They may be buried and lost
In the avalanche.
They may disappear and never be found.
They must watch their step,
Lest the avalanche bury them.
They must not speak,
Lest the avalanche bury them.
They must not make a sound,
Lest the avalanche bury them.
It is winter in America.

Pain

                                     PAIN

The Emperor likes to inflict pain

            Because it gives him such delight,

Not necessarily for any gain.

            It just displays his might.

A Time to Choose

 A TIME TO CHOOSE

There is a war going on.

The land is torn by civil rages.

It has been going on for ages.

It may go on long after we are gone.

***************

On one side stands love, sorority, and fraternity.

On the other stands hatred and fear.

The battle is at hand; it is here.

It is a time to choose, for now and eternity.

Semiquincentennial

 SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL

It is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration.

That was a Mission Statement for our nation.

Inquiring minds wanted to know,

What do we tell friend and foe?

                    **********

We said some truths were self-evident,

And knowing them did not require a docent.

We said, "All men are created equal."

Yes, we should have said "people."

                    **********

But, that's what we were all about,

That's what we wanted to shout

From sea to shining sea,

Something on which we could all agree.

                    **********

Now it seems there is a glitch.

The powerful and the rich

Do not see all the people

As created equal.

                    **********

Some, they say, are more equal

Than the rest of the people.

And America is not our land,

America is their land.

                    **********

And only those who have the cash

Should celebrate our birthday bash.

They never read the document

That said some truths were self-evident.

A New Pharaoh

 A NEW PHARAOH

The Emperor said he was Moses,

            Leading us to the Promised Land.

But he was a new pharaoh,

            Leading us into bondage.

What else could he have been?

He was born to wealth,

            Inherited wealth,

                        Loved wealth.

How could he know what it meant

To struggle?

            To suffer?

                        To cry in the night?

He had never cried in the night.

            He had never suffered.

                        He had never struggled.

He had never wandered lost in the Wilderness,

            Like Moses.

The New American Dream

 THE NEW AMERICAN DREAM

We are the children of immigrants,

            But we hate immigrants.

We praise those who work hard and play fair,

            Unless they come from elsewhere.

We love America,

            But we hate our fellow Americans.

We revere the American Dream,

            But we hate those who dare to dream.

This is the new American Dream.

Powerful Predators

 POWERFUL PREDATORS

Powerful predators prowl the land.

It was once the land of the free.

Now the people flee

And dare not take a stand.

            ***************

The powerful predators pay no price

As they feed on the small and the weak,

For the people are too meek

To free themselves from the powerful vise.

            ***************

It is a sad end to the land of the free,

As the people exchange their freedom

For an impoverished serfdom

And live their lives on bended knee.

The Psychopath

 THE PSYCHOPATH

For the Emperor, cruelty was a choice.

But it was also a reflex action.

It was his second nature.

It was his basic instinct.

It was his worldview:

            Never be soft,

            Never show mercy,

            Never show tenderness.

Crack the whip,

Wield the club,

Strike with an iron fist,

Stride in hobnailed boots,

And laugh at the cries of your victims.

It was the code of a psychopath.

Hunt People

 HUNT PEOPLE

The Emperor likes to hunt people.

His favorite prey is someone honest.

But he is so physically feeble

There would be no contest

Unless the prey was somehow suppressed.

                    ***************

So the prey is first hounded

By thugs in a pack,

And then pounded

And tied in a sack.

Only then does the Emperor attack.

War On The People

 WAR ON THE PEOPLE

The Emperor declared war on the people.

"The enemy is within," he said,

"And I will not rest until the people are dead,

Or at least the ones who do not worship me."

But he loved the ignorant people,

And they loved him,

Because he declared war on all the people

Who did not worship him

And weren't like them.

There Is No Rabbit

 THERE IS NO RABBIT

Even when he doesn't need to,

The Emperor lies.

It's a habit,

Like a dog chasing a rabbit.

If you told him it was day,

He would say it was night.

If you told him it was left,

He would say it was right.

If you said it was up,

He would say it was down.

If you asked him to smile,

He would give you a frown.

He wants you to get in the habit

Of chasing the rabbit,

Even when there is no rabbit.

Quickly Disappear

 QUICKLY DISAPPEAR

The Emperor does not know he's mad,

And that is absolutely bad.

It means that those who see him clear

Must quickly disappear,

Or else pretend they're glad.

A Mass Delusion

 A MASS DELUSION

To clear up our confusion

The Emperor said climate change is illusion,

A great hallucination

Of the entire nation,

All part of a mass delusion.

Us Who Cower

 US WHO COWER

Before the Emperor came to power

He would bellow by the hour

About how the ruler was unfair,

And simply didn't care.

Now, it is us who cower.

Grief Poured Down

 GRIEF POURED DOWN

Grief poured down on the people

            Like a relentless waterfall.

The Emperor had chosen them,

            On a careless, passing, whim,

To suffer his latest atrocity.

            ***************

The people had committed no crime.

            They kept silent and worked hard.

It was just their time.

            Perhaps, on another day,

If he had not passed their way,

            They might have lived another day.

But, today, they had to pay.

I Want Your Juice

 I WANT YOUR JUICE

I want to taste your juice.

I want to taste your juice every day.

A sweet and juicy jelly roll

Like you

                Should be tasted every day,

And every day,

                A different way,

More juicy,

                More succulent,

                                Than the previous way.

I want your juice to fill my mouth.

I want your juice to drip from my lips.

I want your juice.

Calling Dr. Oz

 CALLING DR. OZ

The Emperor is an ancient old fart

Completely lacking a heart.

It's also a crying shame

He has a peanut for a brain,

So he isn't very smart.

A Time of Crisis

 A TIME OF CRISIS

Now is a time of crisis.

Our danger is not from ISIS,

Nor from Marxism, Islamism,

Or any foreign ism.

It is from our own insane Dionysus.

Regime of Lies

 REGIME OF LIES

We live under a regime of lies.

It is a time that terrifies

Because, unless we fight back

Against the imperial maniac,

We will see how freedom dies.

Populist

 POPULIST

When the people resist

And form one mighty fist,

Overcoming differences

And different preferences,

That's called "populist."

Value Unity

 VALUE UNITY

The Emperor did quail

When he learned that empires fail.

When people value unity

Over petty purity,

The people will prevail.

A La Carte

 A LA CARTE

The Emperor has a hole in his heart.

It's big enough for a horse and its cart.

And instead of a soul,

There's another big hole,

And you can bribe him a la carte.

The Kennedy Center

 THE KENNEDY CENTER

The Emperor took over the Kennedy Center.

But no one came all winter.

So, with his usual frown,

The Emperor shut it down,

And searched for someone to rent her.