politics

by

wanna play….

the brown bag prophet
and
several of his cronies
were in the city park
playing
political-guess-who
the prophet
said
clue #1
deliberately and repeatedly
abuses the rights of citizens
there was
a deafening silence
that
followed the first clue
which
is understandable
given
the conditions in many countries
these days
clue#2
systematically represses
and
 criminalizes opposition parties
all the while
encouraging the use
of
force
against demonstrators
and
the press
once again
there was nothing but silence
also
not too surprising
given
conditions in the arab world
and
beyond into africa
clue #3
aspires illegitimately
to usurp
the constitutional role
of
democratically elected officials
rewrite the constitution
and
impose an authoritarian regime on the people
another useless clue
given
this pandemic characteristic
of
governments
these days
clue # 4
has mismanaged the economy
and
engaged in systemic corruption
as well as
refused to provide
humanitarian aid
finally it hit me
oh for god’s sake people
it’s maduro
the prophet
turned
and
said
clue # 5
think closer to home

 

by

please select one…

 

of the following items
please
indicate
which
one
constitutes a national emergency
item 1
1 in 5 children
going to bed
hungry
everyday
item 2
having the highest
first-day death rate
in
the industrial world
item 3
providing services
to
260,000 veterans
diagnosed
with traumatic brain injury
item 4
addressing the needs
of
the 40+ million people
living below
the poverty level
item 5
preventing
the daily
20 suicides by veterans
item 6
building
a 15 – 25 billion dollar wall
because
of
an
i-want-it syndrome

 

by

denial of climate change…

 

i’ve
begun
to wonder
if
blindness
is acquired
after living
in
the light
too
long
the question
was
perhaps
engendered by
all
the dark days
with
rain
we’ve
been having
i’ve noticed
how
even
the slightest
ray
of
sunlight
can become
overwhelming
when
one’s eyes
have
become
accustomed
to
the darkness
and
how
the sound
of
rain
like the voices
of
dying children
soon
become
all too
familiar
how
small
pained faces
become
blurred
behind
a fog
of lies
and then
invisible
in the darkness
as
if
they don’t exist
i suppose
you could
call it
a blindness
of
sorts
or
just denial
after
a
brief period
of
true
democracy

 

by

pay-for-slay…

 

the brown bag prophet
was holding up
a sign
that said
let’s do pay-for-slay too
and yes
once again
i was compelled
to
inquire
why
the prophet said
well
we give billions
to
israel
and
other countries
so
if we really want
the killing
to
stop
we’ll deduct
from
those funds
for
each
innocent life
taken
of course
given
the number of deaths
already this year
some countries
will owe
us
money