Temperatures are sizzling;
Fires burn and spread.
Salad sales are fizzling.
(Eat grass-fed beef instead!)
Immigrants are terrified;
Deportations rise.
Flat-out lies are verified.
Drones invade the skies.
News reporters get the boot.
Algae grows and blooms.
Secret deals to prosecute
Are made in private rooms.
Institutions once revered
Are shuttered or debased.
Everything we’ve always feared
Has happened, in such haste
It’s almost inconceivable,
Yet somehow it is real.
We know that it’s believable,
For nothing can conceal
The way the world is crumbling
And only those in charge,
Despite their shameful bumbling
And greed are living large.
I do not see a way to fix
How bad things have become,
For nature’s tricks and politics
Have made me sad and numb.
for the Wondrous Thingamajig Contest
I stood on a temple
and it landed in front of me
in the middle of the night.
An apparition I thought
but I walked around it
to take in its dimensions
another life.
The object was a saucer
metal and round
much like my mother
said she saw— neighbors
called her crazy.
Reporters wrote for years
the government kept
their sightings secret
afraid they would change
the world
but my mother was telling others.
A being stepped out the vehicle
someone a little different
perhaps.
We gazed at each other and waved
a secret language we shared.
I asked myself
if I wrote a poem
about the experience
and kept it in a dresser drawer
would it still be a poem.
I asked myself who I could show.
The temple was in a desert
few have seen, the moment
a soliloquy.
in quietude of night
my mother
dancing with stars
The final minute’s ticked its last
For “60 Minutes”’ time has passed.
A word of warning should suffice –
Its murderer was Bari Weiss.
First Anderson announced he’d leave;
His absence will make many grieve.
Then double axes heaved a chop,
Letting 2 reporters drop.
The Sharyn and Cecilia bust
Removed 2 women I did trust
To tell the stories, blow by blow,
The public has a right to know.
When Ms. Alfonsi spoke her mind
About a cancelled show, she’d find
The bigwigs didn’t like her nerve;
Her canning she did not deserve.
But worst of all was letting go
Scott Pelley, who, as we all know.
Was “60 Minutes”’ heart and soul
And perfect for his starring role.
He pulled no punches and did speak
With well-placed anger; his critique
Cost him his job. Ms. Weiss sure botched
A show we eagerly once watched.
Following a summit with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, President Trump declined to explicitly state if U.S. troops would defend Taiwan, telling reporters that he wants both Taiwan and China to "cool it a little bit" and questioning the necessity of fighting a war 9,500 miles away. A proposed $14 billion US arms package for Taiwan remains on hold.
Wheeler-dealer Donald Trump
All's for sale, what a champ
Friends are change worth a dime
He don't care, piece of slime
Sell Taiwan, Iran, Ukraine
Send no arms gets people slain
Talks are cheap, deceitful talks
Promise something and then walks
China suddenly a friend
Pile of contracts to no end
Mr. Pres, you lose your face
Every move is a disgrace
May 16, 2026
They changed their flags before sunrise,
and called it weather.
By noon the microphones were blooming
like plastic flowers in dust.
Reporters asked straight questions;
answers arrived sideways,
oiled and smiling,
wrapped in patriotic ribbon.
A man declared himself the nation,
the worker, the owner,
the speech, the applause,
the hand that signs its own praise.
He wore green glasses in famine
and praised the harvest.
He wore dark glasses in fire
and admired the shade.
Truth stood outside barefoot,
waiting to be invited in.
No one heard her knock
above the cutlery of ambition.
Wherever the platter was fullest,
there rolled the faithful.
Principles were folded neatly
and kept for ceremonial days.
Someone asked why the hen
still sat upon the egg.
The minister promised progress,
a cushioned chair by evening.
We laughed, because laughter
is cheaper than revolt.
We laughed, because the room
was wired to record our silence.
And still, every season,
the chair arrives before justice.
My rock group was getting stale
We no longer drew the fans
So I told my sad tale
To a public relations man
He gave me this advice:
"There's only one way to the light
Avoid the image of 'nice."
Let your inner demon take flight.
So we drove my car off a cliff in Malibu
Jumped out first, watched it dive
Made sure a camera man knew
Struck a pose with a high five.
I attended a posh party at night
Slapped my wife, who played the part
sniffed white powder, picked a fight
They rolled me out in a hospital cart.
I set fire to my guitar on stage
Firemen had been called, just in case
They sprayed me with a hose, I feigned rage
Yelled obscenities, got in their face.
But the fans would not return
Now I was without a car and a guitar
Plus dentist bills, no money to burn
Sold the mansion, no more a star.
I went back to my hometown
Helped an old lady walk where the street was wide
Cameras flashed, reporters took it down
that "Bad boy Jennings" had a good side!
Now the fans fill up my halls
It came as a total surprise
Now I've learned when the limelight calls
To be myself, no need for disguise.
reporters were asked to state their ideas
what was the biggest news story of all time?
Many said November 22nd, 1963
If you were alive on that date, you know the story
And were probably stunned by it
I was eleven and I have never forgotten it.
want to guess which one it was?
end of WW II
US astronauts walk on the moon
assassination of President John F. Kennedy
World Trade Center bombing on 9-11
If you have to guess, you were not alive on that day.
Lights - camera - action
A call - anonymous - reaction
The scene - red - what happened?
Bodies, bodies, bodies
The weapon - a gun
The reason - still unknown
The reporters crowd like vultures
Each with their own bias,
Each with their own made-up story
But all with a common agenda -
Victimise the enemy - villanise the innocent
Black innocence, white guilt
They’ll focus, sympathy -
On the suspect - how up until now they were perfect
They were white, so they must be in the right
The victim was black - it had to be self defence
The news will claim it isn't a serious offence
The courts favour power
A badge equals - a get out of jail free card
The verdict comes in - the officer in question -
Was found -
Not guilty
Here’s to the doormen,
The porters, the waiters,
The plumbers, the cabbies,
The exterminators…
Here’s to the teachers,
The nannies, the nurses,
Performers and artists
And writers of verses…
Here’s to the athletes,
The mailmen, reporters,
The chefs and the police force
And climate supporters…
Here’s to the builders
And tour guides and cleaners
And research assistants
And medical screeners…
Here’s to repairmen
And bakers and drivers
And farmers and shepherds
And all of the strivers
Who put in the effort,
Most times, to the letter,
To help make our lives
(And their own) so much better.
ow this is a story all about how
My life got flipped turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the prince with a sweat gland problem quite rare
In Westminster born and raised
Watch young girls on the playground is where I spent most of my days
Chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool
And all shootin' some lines beside Epstein pool
When a couple of reporters who were up to no good
Started makin' trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little pic and the queen got scared
And said, "You're losing your titles because your interview shouldn’t have ing aired
Peace, peace, and sincere peace
We all wish, dream and confuse about peace
Are we really serious, thirsty and hungry for peace
Even though the gunships and cannons are set and ready
To go, to attack the weak and the imagined enemies?
Do we truly want a world of brotherly harmonies?
Yet, superpowers invest their time, ingenuity, and moneys
In smart drones, powerful guns and well-trained armies
Are we sure that we want lasting peace?
This world is made of corrupt goons, polygamists, liars and bullies
Warmongers are hypocritical, strange, sneaky and devious
This agitprop about peace is delusional headlines or breaking news
To startle or to dimwit elderlies, idealists, and crying babies
Politicians are godawful sensationalists on steroid
Where muzzled reporters and anchors are ridiculed and toyed
By elected pogromists in search of free publicities
Yet, yes we yearn for peace and tranquility in the burgs and cities
Peace is about coming with clean and caring hands
To share the streams, the land, the sand and the highlands.
Wit
Where were you when I was arrested at a public toilet for drinking
of a flask of brandy- the man beside me was a police officer out
to catch people like me who needed a drink to survive the tedium of
living in a provincial town in the middle of a landscape of cows
Where were you during the court case when the judge said I was
a disgrace, a plague on the backside of humanity, drinking in public
It is a serious crime, the buffoon thundered, throwing the gavel at me
It hit a guard in the head, who was knocked out
Where were you when I had to run the gauntlet of jeering reporters
and people pointed me out in the street, and a hush when
I entered a café, and the waitress refused to serve me coffee
You went on holiday in Spain, drinking red wine.
As the fires burn up our forests
and the deadly floods ravage our earth
All the traitors inside of the WH
give America new fascist birth
Our brothers and sisters patrol us
with the weapons of war that we made
As the songs they once sang about honor
about freedom and liberty, fade
They are building an army against us
search for people of color to blame
Armed with weapons of war in our cities
hidden faces are proof of their shame
As Republicans lie to the people
some reporters reply with a wink
And the viewers are all left to wonder
what was truth, what was lie, what to think
This is now a complete insurrection
being led by commander in chief
And the GOP Sedition Party
falls on all like a blanket of grief
We must all tow the line for our freedom
march together and then stand as one
It is now our time to be heroes
show the world how democracy’s won
The crush of reporters with mikes
the security entourage
Autograph-seekers, well-wishers
hand-shakers, selfie-fishers
On stage 24/7... with luck, for years
Careening 'career' ... jeers and cheers
~ ‘midst the booze veneer
Ginny's husband's verbosity and arrogance were tiring
The press was weary of his fabricated story
No one believed this guy
Ginny had not accidentally disappeared
He went from celebrity to a villainous nobody in a few days
The reporters had other things to do
Would they catch him?
Many figured they never would
Bodies are incredibly easy to hide.
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