WAKE UP CALL!
What's wrong with some folks in our great country?
How could they vote for four more years of … *schmatte?!
For one who lies his head off constantly,
And wants to be a mean, cruel autocrat!
Come on, America, you must know that
People will show us who they really are
By their fount of empathy, and what
They really care about, that's not bizarre.
Get out and do your job, you hear me!? Vote
For someone who is human, and can be
A very good new president – don't dote
On someone who lacks all HUMANITY!
This is our chance to scorn autocracy
To keep us from this horrid, horrid dread,
And maintain our beloved DEMOCRACY
Cuz, if you fall for lies and hate, we're dead!
*Schmatte – Yiddish word for a rag or an old, ragged garment.
Amid the sexy lingerie
The bride-to-be received,
There was a garment out of place,
Or so some folks believed.
It was a housedress from the past,
A little drab and faded,
In which the grandma of the bride
Once through her house paraded.
That grandma is no longer here,
But spoke up through that dress.
Her daughter and her grandchild
Felt her kvelling,** I would guess.
And though that shapeless schmatte*
Wasn’t bridal-like to wear,
It let us know that Grandma Ida
Had a presence there.
I love when past and present
Are connected with a link;
That housedress did its job and Ida
Would be tickled pink.
*an old piece of clothing or material
**bursting with joy and bragging about it
New York’s lost an icon
Who was in your face and brash.
He always spoke his mind and thus,
With many he did clash.
A three-term mayor with a bridge
That’s honored with his name,
His trademark “How’m I doin?”
Vaulted him to fame.
He never lived in Gracie Mansion,
Long a mayor’s goal,
Instead remaining in his village pad,
With rent control.
Koch rarely wore a hat, but once,
While in a winter storm,
His pate, uncharacteristically,
Was covered to be warm.
Reporters teased him and he laughed,
While pointing to his head,
“This schmatte*? Yeah, it was a gift;”
And that was just so Ed.
To many, me included,
He was New York quintessential.
Perhaps his strong appeal
Was rooted in the residential.
I think New Yorkers, all of us,
Will miss old Mayor Koch.
The city won’t be quite the same
Without him on his watch.
*Yiddish for a rag or cheap piece of material