Now, it can be told:
Bombadil is Keith Richards.
Ancient, unaging
2025-05-16
2024-12-02
2024-03-29
2024-02-15
alpha male
Robert Sapolsky
explains Trump and his minions
as lower primates
Labels: adolescence, politics, Trump
2024-02-12
Bottom's up
The accusations Trumpsters throw around
are veiled confessions, childishly disguised.
The scandals that disqualify their clown
through funhouse mirrors, smear the other side.
The Saudi billions Jared can deploy
to lure investors to each pump-and-dump,
were not entrusted to Joe Biden's boy;
that level of corruption's purely Trump.
Political affiliation's strong;
Americans would rather fight, than switch.
We're more pugnacious when it's plain we're wrong,
and when our party's tits-up in the ditch.
A clearer vision in that looking-glass
would show Republicans their head's an ass.
2024-02-08
Foreign Agents
The Kremlin Caucus knows who pay the bills;
Zelenskyy doesn't underwrite their tribe.
assiduously doing Putin's will;
they've pledged allegiance to the biggest bribe.
Some crave the rubles, some the Honeypot;
some can't afford their second yacht, or plane.
And those who balk will find there's Kompromat,
to whip up opposition to Ukraine.
In Washington, such harlotry's the norm,
but donors win whenever there's a clash.
Until we find the gumption to reform
your vote counts less if it's not wrapped in cash.
Such foreign agents are no cause for pride;
Labels: corruption, money, politics, Putin, Russia, Trump, wealth
2024-02-07
Survivor
Dead heroes live forever in our lore
(at least as long as epic deeds get sung).
While Bibi's tenure won't last past this war,
his brother Yonatan's forever young.
Achilles had no time to take a wife;
his legacy's not genes, but epic song.
While Bibi clings to office for dear life,
Israeli voters deem it's been too long.
Survival's Netanyahu's foremost goal;
more for himself than any larger cause.
The gnawing need to feel he's in control
is incompatible with mortals' laws.
The Hero of Entebbe's still the one
Bentzion kvells on when he says "my son".
2024-01-19
balrog's bane
Olorin cast the Balrog from the height;
the Dimrill dale resounded with the crash.
The thing of flames so poorly fit for flight
left just an impact crater strewn with ash.
Like Glorfindel, millennia before
when Turgon had to flee his eagles' nest,
This flashy sideshow to the larger war
would barely rate a footnote in the West.
Except that Gandalf'd left so much undone;
No elf could give the Age of Men its king.
It's he that orchestrated what was won,
although he didn't dare to grasp the Ring.
The heir of Elendil has come of age,
and carries on--again--without his mage.
Labels: literature, myth, Tolkien
2023-11-25
engage
News must look backwards/
you can't predict the future/
but you can build it
Labels: information, time
2022-11-12
2021-07-06
used
and Hermes held his luscious slow-braised head.
Hephaistos undid Tantalus' harm
to prep this dainty for the Sea god's bed.
Let Zeus snatch playthings from the walls of Troy;
Mycenae has enough for most gods' need.
Be that a blushing maid, or smooth-cheeked boy,
no cause to shop abroad for Ganymede.
Cassandra told Apollo to get lost;
she'd rather dally with some Asian youth.
Integrity like hers bears a grave cost;
she wins no kudos for unwelcome truth.
When paths of gods and mortals intersect
our lives seem just their smorgasbord of sex.
2021-07-03
encryption security
Two can keep secrets
even when the pressure's on
if one of them's dead
Labels: communication, death
2021-04-18
2021-03-18
2021-02-25
stoned
gazing at the stars
wondering if they're air-holes
gods poked for their pets
Labels: astronomy, cosmology, heaven, pharmacology
2021-01-31
unmoored
Nihilists untied!
Outsourcing reality
QAnon's faithful
Labels: cult, epistemology, politics, reality, religion
2020-12-04
player
Skulking Aegysthos
while better men fought at Troy
played at being king
Labels: government, Homer, literature, myth, war
2020-10-28
2020-10-26
2020-10-04
2020-09-26
formalist
Will Shakespeare explained
why he kept his metric scheme
"iamb what iamb"
Labels: literature, poetry, Shakespeare, verse
2020-07-19
2020-06-29
2020-05-02
2020-04-21
2020-04-18
Fourth Turning II
The blare of Trump/Pence heralds End of Days
The Second Horsemen slays us with a plague;
The Wise among us shudder at what's next.
Apocalyptic fires devastate Oz,
as Bangladesh subsides beneath the waves.
Still Trumpty Dumpty doubts a human cause
and soon, there'll be no bodies left to save.
Pat Robertson swears God is in control
and sends disease to guide us on His way,
chastising bodies to refine the soul,
and when that fails, he'll blame it on the Gays.
Steve Bannon's all alone to find it "good"
we didn't prep for this one, 'though we could.
2020-04-15
untrustworthy
Labels: dune, literature, proust
closing the loop
Labels: dune, literature, proust
2020-03-29
tragedy
trends toward zero as you run
HealthCare like business
Labels: business, economics, healthcare