I am the empire state
Building opens.
I am Nazi Germany
Invades Poland.
I am the 21st amendment
Ending prohibition.
I am Life magazine's first
Addition.
I am the Star-spangled banner
National anthem.
I am Lindbergh's son kidnapped,
No ransom.
I am the great dust bowl
Event.
I am Franklin Roosevelt as
The President.
I am the Golden Gate Bridge
Is complete.
I am John Dillinger gunned
Down in the street.
I am the San Francisco
Ballet opens.
I am Amelia Earhart flies
Across the ocean.
I am Alcatraz opens it's
Doors.
I am Hitler becomes Fuhrer
And starts the wars.
I am Alcoholics Anonymous
There is a better way.
I am the FBI born,
Hoover seized the day.
Turbo1904
*Image of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.
Catch-Phrase
TANKA
(interrupt someone who's talking)
West would say, If I
may stop you dead in your tracks
East would say, If I
may slice you with some honey
criminal, subliminal
HAIKU'S
(Tea at the Roosevelt's)
Eleanor, of tea;
women are like a teabag
strong, ~~in hot water
(Parodies of mines...)
Franklin D. of tea;
men are like a teabag too
cold water, ~~add ice
(...and again...)
there're lots of fishes
in the sea then only thee
~~yours are more like whales
(...and again...)
there's an old saying
with age comes wisdom, but some
times, ~~age comes alone
2022 January 30
Nation huddled in darkness
As a leader emerged
Promising a “New Deal”
Recovery from the Great Depression
Our thirty-second president
Wise, compassionate
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Beacon of hope for families
Warm Spring’s historic train, now rusty
Once carried people with polio
Visitors to FDR’s Little White House
Hoping tepid water would ease their plight
Touring the White House museum,
You can see the bed where he died
Beloved president of 12 years
During the harshest of times
Hungry and homeless Americans
Overcame the Great Depression
Only to enter a second World War
Upon the bombing of Pearl Harbor
His comprehensive programs
propelled a struggling nation to rebound
Created infrastructure jobs
Taught people new skills
Elected four times
Roosevelt was a born leader
With the problems we have today
We pray a new leader will show us the way
*January 16, 2021
For L. Milton Hankins’ “Your Favorite President” contest
Most Americans just didn't know
Franklin Roosevelt had polio --
He sat in his iron chair
And he sweat like a bear --
His powerful image all for show
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