The Vietnam War was on the news when I was in high school
The ones who got sent over to be fodder were from poor counties
Sons of congressmen and senators were not drafted
But other men were readily plucked up and sent over
To morbidly hot jungles full of mosquitos and the enemy
More got blown up or killed than came home intact
If they went over as an officer, they were killed by their own men
Usually in eight minutes
Why? Because if there is no officer to lead, you do not have to fight
Many of these young men were not fighters, they did not want to be soldiers
They had been involuntarily drafted, with little training
If they lasted one year, they could return. Most did not make it.
The old ‘Pass-Punt-Kick’ contest
misappropriated by politicos
You’re familiar with the stereotype
the kind who check which way the wind blows
Like a hot potato they pass the buck
If asked a tough question, they punt
And when a financial decision looms, they
kick the can years down the road
So, fans, it seems we have a winner
535 Congressmen, each and every one a sinner
In the name of fairness
a president who incites an insurrection would be hung for treason
Corporations and wealthy people would pay their share of taxes
The electoral college would be abolished so everyone has an equal vote
Rapists and sexual predators would be kicked off the Supreme Court
No one would decide what a young woman does with her body except her
Congressmen would have the same insurance as the rest of us
Assault rifles would be destroyed; no one needs them.
The NRA would have to pay billions of dollars to victims families
In the name of fairness
The president is charged and convicted
Corrupt senators are handcuffed
Greedy congressmen are imprisoned
Prostitution is doomed and prohibited
And the constitution is amended.
The Justice department is doing its job
There will be more details
After the morning chronicles
This is clean up time, all the morons
Are locked up. It is the end.
It's the end of corruption
The streets are clean like the host
There is no more prostitution
The people are elated. Life is beautiful
All the corrupt are in prison.
Long live Our Darling Country!
Long live the impoverished
Betrayed, insulted, humiliated
Pilled and suffocated Mother Land!
P.S. We are obligated to tell the TRUTH.
Copyright © March 2018, Hébert Logerie, All rights reserved
Hébert Logerie is the author of several books of poetry.
electoral college is our saving grace
it ensures that the poor can never get a stronghold
or even a toe-hold in the political machine
I stared at the creepy senator, wondering if he had any idea
what it was like to be poor, homeless, suffering, alone or desperate
He had a smug look on his face,
his braggadocio ways turned me away
I began thinking about all the unfairness in the world
between the rich and the poor
a man convicted of 34 counts of felony
allowed to run for President?
Trailer trash stealing a loaf of bread and meat to feed children
is living in a stark six by eight cell, awaiting a speedy trial
the laws are made by the congressmen and senators here.
Are they not rich?
And who do they benefit?
How do they stay rich?
America, the Land of the Poor.
world peace
is it attainable?
not yet.
Plausible?
not here.
Possible?
maybe some day
not this day
not while the NRA rules
and young men are the first ones sent to the front as fodder
while old men collect pensions and lifetime salaries
things might change if we sent senators and congressmen to the front
after they declare wars on other countries
congressmen/women
senators palaver ....
expensive hot air
When bullets fired doubly fly
Passers by will doubly die
Murder mayhem in the town
Two more victims spiral down
One shot one kill or so they say
Full metal jackets twice today
Crimson stains on every round
Two more victims in the ground
Changes in the law are needed
Congressmen have never heeded
Once we pass it on the floor
Two more victims never more
My job as your next President
and benevolent dictator,
is to live it up in the White House
and not bother Americans at all.
O and yes....
defund and term limit
all congressmen and senators,
who needs politics
when we have sesame bread sticks?
The irredeemably evil among us
will be forced to pillow fight it out
in a bouncy castle.
Public spectacles of random kindness
would be fully covered by
an honest media with no agenda.
Some say I am a Pollyanna,
some, a cock-eyed optimist,
but at this sad time
my cunning secret
is that I don't give a crap
about your point of view,
which of course,
perfectly defines me
as a typically jaded
and pissed-off American.
Vote. Vote, Vote!
I was at this here shindig just the other night
was all duded up and was feeling all right
When this fancy fella saunters over my way
it 'peers to me like he might have something to say
Gawking at my boots, rodeo buckle and band
I guess he figured it out that I worked the land
He tips his wine glass with his pinky sticking out
then begins telling me just what ranching's about
He'd bought up thousands of acres of this cheap land
that used to belong to some worthless Indians
If I wanted real money, I'd be pumping oil
or dig gold, coal or silver from under the soil
He said man it's easy just to get down to it
bring in these machines and rip the prairie to
Waive a little cash and them congressmen aught to
just follow you around like cattle to slaughter
I says hold on there, I'm not sure you understand
so just let me show you what I think of your plan
Us rancher, we have pride in caring for the land
and I introduced him to the back of my hand
I'm sure they won't ask me to any more soirees
none of them snooty people talk to me these days
Because as I walked out I toasted them you see
with a finger sticking out but not my pinky
I sigh when I watch men and women
just sit home drawing unemployment
when they are fully able to work.
Such benefits make me paranoid.
I see: some seem so sure just swimmin’
in hope that their shallow enjoyment
will thrive despite misgivings which lurk
in a mindless, a fatuous void.
Say: “Fee-fi-fo-fum” on congressmen.
What hope have we once our government
sets rewards for citizens who shirk
common sense? It’s Welfare on steroids.
I'm so disgusted, in deep chagrin
that such a farce can misrepresent
our nation. As an aging young Turk,
I don't know when I've felt so annoyed.
July 11, 2021
There was once a president of strong will
Who didn't wish to swallow defeat's pill
Started an insurrection
For his power's protection
He even thought some congressmen to kill?
Fortunately, his scheme did not succeed
Thus, finally, he was forced to concede
He packed things ready to go
His ego took a huge blow
Now he has to be judged for his misdeed!
© Demetrios Trifiatis
18 January 2018
In my lifetime we've come a long way in the USA
I remember when the signs in the South read 'Whites only!'
No 'Jews or N-word-types Allowed!' -- swear to God
Cicero, IL was lily-white, as was my high school
With no people of color, Poles and Italians did fight
No blacks on TV, and the names were all Christianized
Little wonder the sitcom humor seemed canned and homogenized
Today is far different; we're a rainbow of colors
We think nothing of whites walking next to black others
We've had an African-American President and First Lady
Senators and Congressmen from Somalia and Haiti
The one drawback is this: With all of our newfound diversity
It seems we're grinding our gears in the muck of perversity
His words: arrows
Targeted democracy,
The nation survived!
© Demetrios Trifiatis
07 January 2021
* I stayed up all night watching CNN from Greece the drama of
Democracy in the USA. The result is this Senryu and a repost of
my edited poem of DEMOCRACY.
** Dedicated to all senators and congressmen and to all those
who stood their ground to defend Democracy!
While gleaning yesterday from today.
I found an old friend, dusty and chipped.
Back in the day, we weren't just directionless kittens.
But "budding" congressmen, doctors, and convicts.
Sitting around a whirling tie-dyed circle.
Sharing a glass tube filled with happy grass.
Minds dabbling between tide pools of freedom.
And the coming tsunami of responsibility.
For a brief time, we held back the atomic bomb of adulthood.
Clinging to the last pinwheel of childhood.
With a Z.Z Top eight-track, a six-pack of Genesee Cream Ale
and a sweet bowl or two of Panama Red.
5/9/20
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