Sharing is good, a basic lesson
I learned in pre-school
And it’s what most people
Both rich and poor go on to do
But when it’s forced, coerced
Taken without consent
It’s not sharing
It’s just theft
Something I also got lessons about
When I was just a child
(1/10/26)
We live in savage times so tough
With open socialists elected
On promises of more free stuff
As all around fools are subjected
Everyone in huddled masses
With faces blank in dark veiled threat
Sitting on their passive asses
Hands open like an expectant pet
Everyone knows it’s expected
How the value of these hollow suits
Grows with every dime collected
With our necks beneath their dirty boots
Oh noble lords we submit now
To the brazen theft that you impose
And even as we smile and bow
Start our rebellion under your nose
When the day comes for the takers
To account at last for all you stole
Be prepared to meet your makers
And serve us for life without parole.
(11/14/25)
The Market wears a heavier Gown —
Her Robes — of imported Thread —
The People — pay the Seamstress’ wage —
Though none were in her Bed —
The Merchant sighs — the Farmer weeps —
For Bread — once plain — now dear —
The Crown is gone — yet still it feeds —
On what we’ve sown — this year —
Invisible — the Hand that takes —
From pockets lined with toil —
We trade our sweat for foreign gain —
Our Freedom — taxed — in spoil —
O Liberty — thou ghostly Guest —
We toast thee — through the Pain —
The Price of Goods — our silent vote —
Uncounted — yet again —
(“Utopia and Terror Merit Badge”, 2010, original oil)
Theft In the Name of Good
The rise in popularity of socialism
Especially amongst the religious
And not just the usual godless Left
Shows that theft has become a moral good
When used to fund one’s own pet projects.
Want to house the homeless? Tax the homed.
Want to educate the young? Tax the elderly.
Want to feed the poor? Tax the middle class.
Want to expand healthcare? Tax the rich.
Want to destabilize society? Tax everyone.
The bottom line is taxation is theft,
The taking from another involuntarily by force,
And we accept it as a necessary evil
Until it crosses the line into things we don’t support
Like the killing of babies, bombing of villagers,
Lining the pockets of corrupt officials and contractors,
Locking up the righteous while freeing the insane.
The bottom line is taxation is theft, and
Anyone who tells you otherwise and supports it
Is just another thief.
(9/9/25)
We move accordingly using
less air to breathe wandering
about the crued oils of dirt
grime corruption coated
with uncommon valor seen
by millions witnessed by
none we move in separate
lives coasting throughout
mental health relief desperate
an yet clothed with the
blood of everyone totally
exempt from taxation
missing broken overlooking
the rise of Jerusalem
("World Turning", 2021, original encaustic)
Taxation is Theft
The world today’s divided
‘Tween those who give and take
One side doing all it can
To steal what others make.
It is a world of conflict
Along lines of hope and fear
Where each project what they reject
But cannot see what’s near.
We call it being civil
But that's not what we've shown
As brothers fight with brothers
And mothers eat their own.
We think we’re somehow different
Than all that’s come before
But birth and death continues
For us there’s nothing more.
Some want the world to be free
While others know the cost
The question is who will pay
When freedom has been lost.
(1/26/24)
Go Man, Go with Liz.
That girl's got so much whizz.
Say goodbye to sorrows
as she, borrows, borrows, borrows.
Our nation's fortune waxes
the more she cuts those taxes.
She relishes a fight,
not she some 'Maggie Lite'.
Macron and Putin shake and shudder
Now 'tis Liz who holds the rudder.
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