They are always saying, 

“the national debt is unsustainable” 

yet day after day, month after month, year after year 

the unsustainable remains sustainable.

* * * 

One party’s dysfunction 

might be both party’s problem 

but that doesn’t mean
both party's are dysfunctional

despite what the news media reports. 

Shallowed be thy will

Anyone who believes 

getting rich is the American dream 

is lost in a rich man’s 

propaganda and scheme 

and like sheep to the slaughter 

they are easily led.


* * *


Inequality
in a country that preaches equality
is an obscenity
and shatters every dream eventually

leaving nothing but platitudes
and a cliche' mentality.


* * *


When we couldn't find happiness
we chose excited instead
and in our excitement
we threw joy to the curb.

‘IT’S FOR YOUR PROTECTION’  

every dictator say’s 

when he puts armed guards everywhere
and he will even say
you asked him to do it.


* * *


 NRA Dreamscapes

It’s scary what we’re becoming.
It’s like everything is coming into focus
and the neighbors we once loved and trusted
are now all armed and dangerous.


* * * * *


Gifts to Go

Give me a DVD and I’ll be gone for a couple hours.
Give me a computer game
and I’ll be gone for a few days.
Give me a smart phone with a bunch of apps
and I’ll be gone wherever I go
and oh yeah,
thanks
it was nice knowing you.

A Thorn in the Side of Progress 

In the ancient world 

the rich got richer and the poor got poorer 

but that was to be expected 

because they were so primitive.  

In the dark and enlightened ages 

the rich got richer and the poor got poorer 

and a whole lot sicker. 

Then new worlds 

were discovered and conquered 

and the rich got richer 

and the poor not only got poorer 

but were also stamped out or enslaved. 

Now in our modern world 

we shoot for the stars 

and carry advanced gadgets and ideas

and the richer still get richer 

and the poor still get poorer and poorer.

In tomorrow’s world 

all that will hold us back will be 

the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

Cheat

One thinks compromise 

and then tells us so. 

The other thinks submit 

hoping it won’t show

but we hear the tone 

and see the pride 

and watch him refuse, 

strut and stride  

with upturned nose 

nothing’s good enough. 

With a nothing hand 

he tries to bluff 

and when that one fails 

an ace from the cuff,,, 

They all cheat.  They say they won’t touch a certain program, then get elected and when a deal is revealed that same program is included and if I had it to do over again I would of flushed that ballot and I really don’t understand why they all think a tax increase is the end of the world unless of course it happens on Friday.

Oxymoron

The tin man might of lost 

but that’s okay 

cuz the iron man still rules 

in most every way 

and it makes no difference 

what the people say.

So to all you wise old fools 

who still have a grip, 

 you are now living within

a democratic dictatorship



* * *


In a world given to games and distractions
 reality is highly competitive
and like the beast with a very ugly head
it always rises to take the day.

Changing you is no problem 

cuz you feel  

but changing them who embrace 

the stone and steel, 

well, 

that will never happen 

and I see dark clouds ahead 

and I want to slow down, turn around 

but this vehicle has a mind of it’s own 

and a voice that whispers, 

"you ain’t seen nothing yet"

* * * . 

and the fools gather 

chit chatting in angst the whole day away, 

‘what to do, what to do’ 

when there’s nothing they can do 

but wait 

for surely the beast 

in all it’s glory unrestrained

will come again,

As long as we love to watch 

the gore, the blood, the severed heads 

and bodies cut in two 

we will always have kids massacred 

in elementary school 

so why do we waste time blaming 

everything but the cause?

I just finished reading ‘No Country for Old Men’ by Cormac McCarthy and finally understand the meaning of the title which was totally lost to me after watching the movie. 

Then I got to thinking how much that’s like living in America and how we have all lost the ability to figure out the meaning of the title because so much meaning  is being cut from the script and replaced with a more marketable item, violence.

I, like the old cop in the book remember another America.  A better America.

America, 

land of the weird, 

the lame and the totally insane 

blowing away each other 

on every fruited plain 

from sea to shining sea. 

All brought to us live 

with aerial shots,
eye witness interviews 

and commentators 

to guide us all through.

Caving in

If you let a dog bite you once 

there’s a pretty good chance 

he will bite you again 

and the same could be said 

for one friend let down, 

there’s a pretty good chance
 all friends will be let down 

and there comes a point where 

compromise becomes servitude

and I wonder if he knows that.



Sometimes a powerful voice can conceal a cowardly heart.

Breaking (making) News 

Within a hour the news media bought up, 

lock, stock and barrel, franchise style, 

the entire tragedy 

and now we’ll see for weeks on end 

talking heads who know everything about everything 

nobody wants to know anything about 

and endless loops of the same old scenes, 

the same old interviews about how they felt 

and a few computer enhanced re-creations 

thrown in for good measure 

and they will call it breaking news long after it broke 

and we the masses sit on the edges of our seats 

asking the same old questions, scratching our asses 

and waiting for more

but at least it distracts 

from all this other manufactured bulls#*t.


* * *

From the Top Down

Advertisements is the aim,
the goal, the ultimate objective
and entertainment programming
is just the vehicle

and like everything else
in our hi-tech world
the vehicle gets smaller
and smaller.

Eventually
all that will be left
is advertisements hitching rides
on other advertisements.

You can vote.

You can even believe 

one fool over the other 

but when all is said 

and done 

the corporate cabal 

steers the course 

cuz it knows 

we are an ‘after the fact’ 

species, 

and the cliffs we fear 

we view from below, 

mid-fall. 

I wonder what happened to all those people 

who rallied behind the status quo 

and filled the streets and royal hall 

to cheer the fall of the chosen one bent, 

beaten and nailed to a cross.

I wonder what happened after the cheers, 

chest bumps and a million high fives.  

Did they just go home, back to their life’s, 

jobs and loving families in anticipation 

of the next Roman crucifixion 

or did they put their sad face on like we do 

after a crushing tackle and one can’t get up. 

Then after the commercial break he’s gone,

we smile again and thirst for another. 

I heard on the news 

the people 

are finally waking up 

but that’s no consolation 

for those 

who were never asleep.

So it just sounds like 

more propaganda to me

and I half expect the world 

to end in a couple weeks 

and I can’t decide 

to turn my cable box in 

and save a few bucks 

or just leave it hooked up 

cuz I heard somewhere 

the end of the world 

will certainly be televised 

and I wouldn’t want to miss that.

In youth abides 

no point of reference 

so how can it know 

what’s been left behind 

and how can it miss 

waves of grain, fruited plain, 

or good from sea to sea 

when all it can see 

is what happens right now, 

forever the same  

since the day it was born

twenty or so,  years ago

in which half was a daze 

and the other half in class 

and knowing the past 

is just something memorized.

After the Reboot 

The holiday season will be renamed the 

shopping season 

and the only reason we celebrate 

will be for the sales 

and Jesus and the Pilgrims can take a hike 

or be archived or whatever,,,

* * *

The world I knew no longer exists
and the things I was taught to ignore or avoid
are now mainstream
and the faith it took to come up right
has disappeared into the night

and it’s almost as if my parents
were wrong about everything.

Doggerel Days

When they chose up teams 

on the field of life, reluctantly 

they might choose him last 

but mostly not at all.  

So alone he stood 

through out his whole life 

not knowing to feel 

embarrassed or relieved,

but lighter for sure  

and somewhat grateful to be 

the one 

they will never know.

* * *

Q.  What happens when a bad idea
or a misconception
becomes the law of the land,
accepted wholeheartedly as right
when it might not be right at all?

A.  Civilization happens.

* * *

There is no greater ideal,
just a winning appeal,

and if Hitler had won
we’d all be praising him
for pushing the Jews
out of sight

but since he didn’t
we support the Jews
for pushing the Arabs
out of sight

with winning appeal
and if they resist
they’ll call them terrorists
and blow them all to hell.

So you see,
there is no greater ideal,
just a winning appeal.

Even if good wins 

it’s astounding to know 

it was a close race

which means 

all the losers
are still out there 

lurking

and pretending to be
good too.

* * *

My neighbor has a habit of saying,
‘nobody in their right mind would vote for him’
and I’m always compelled to remind him,
nobody’s been in their right mind
for a long, long time.

* * *

Even though I’m quite aware
of the growing attraction for non-human devices
I still voted for the human.

The tin man whispers 

into Jerry’s ear 

‘they are going to name me 

Liar of the Year’ 

and Jerry whispers back 

‘don’t fret and realize 

my people hate the truth 

but love the best lies’ 

and together they both nod 

and together they grin 

for in a world this dumbed down  

even a tin man can win.

I think when they look back on the 21st century they will call it
 the beginning of the 2nd dark age.

The disconnect.

The carpet cleaner (self-employed) came today all red, white and blue.  A huge eagle painted on the side of his van to depict some form of patriotic zeal I suppose.  Come to find out with no surprise to me he was an active member in the local Tea Party and he relished every opportunity to push his right wing agenda and for two hours straight I felt trapped inside a tin can sized mindset with absolutely no way out.


He bitched a lot about 'no jobs' so I asked him why he didn’t hire workers and become the solution to the problem and he just laughed at me like I was crazy or something.

The Greatest Lie

Barnum understated his famous claim, 

not one but ten

and he probably praised every sucker born 

for their intelligence.

So I wish politicians would stop saying 

the American people are not stupid 

when in fact they really are

for how else can we explain 

this photo-finish race?

* * *

I suggest we put Daffy Duck up against Mitt Romney in 2016.
By then it shouldn't be too hard to convince everybody cartoons are people too.

The Fickle Finger of Fate Award 

ruled the day when men would say, 

‘it’s a white man’s world and women are exempt'

and maybe, just maybe 

they want that all back. 

I have to admit these current issues makes me feel like a young man again.  

Like 40 years never happened.  

Like maybe this worn body of mine is just an illusion. 

The tin man’s head 

spins to and fro 

and everybody wonders 

which way he will go. 

Will yesterday’s friend 

be tomorrow’s foe? 

Will his joints seize up 

in the rain and snow?

The glaciers might melt 

but the oil must flow 

because that’s the way 

a tin man will roll.

* * * * *

The little Nazi was in town yesterday
only two blocks away and I must say
I was impressed and oppressed
by the turn out

and felt aghast at the mass
of old farts like me,
decrepit and grey with nothing to say
but let’s hate our own betterment.

This doesn’t feel like a national election.
It feels like a hyped-up sitcom production,

poorly acted and the lines are all bad.
Not worth watching twice and it’s just sad

how we show the whole world this travesty
and the joke we’ve made of our democracy.


* * * * *

The tin man 

finally has his day, 

the tide turns, 

the polls sway, 

the nation reflects 

his flip flop way, 

totally unaware,  

caught up in the game 

that turns integrity 

into the shame 

it so deserves 

after all these years 

of blatant slaughter 

to soothe the fears 

of the chosen clan 

sitting on high

asking in earnest 

we kiss our asses goodbye.

The professor said, 

“those who say they know 

prove they don’t

and potential hides 

in the effort 

to better understand

and those 

who take the high road 

run the risk 

of disappearing from sight”.

* * * * *

An old Somali saying

Lie to a liar, for lies are his coins. 

Steal from a thief, for that is easy.

Lay a trap for a trickster 

and catch him at his first attempt,

but beware of a honest man.

* * * * *

The question is, would you buy a product from a store
that constantly criticizes it’s competition who sells the
same product for half the price.

Evidently, half the voting populous would.

Bywords

Every decade all the way back
they cry the death
of the American dream.

A dream I never dreamt
thru all the monotony
of every job held,

every bill paid, every child born
I really can’t remember
ever dreaming

the American dream
nor do I know
what ‘middle class’ means.

* * * * *


The tin man 

all shiny and new 

pretends he really cares 

about me and you,

 with squeaky gesture  

he hides the king’s plan, 

an automated shell 

with a pen in each hand 

to sign away unobstructed 

every founding stone 

to sharpen the contrast 

and deafen the tone 

of passion

Welcome Home Troops!  

The senate refused to pass the Veteran’s Job Bill 

and all this time 

you thought the enemy was over there.


Personally I think anyone who voted against that bill
should be impeached and then tried for treason
but,
I'm just an old Vietnam War vet, disgusted.

SHAME ON YOU AMERICA
or maybe
you got war on your mind and you want to make damn sure
they have no other option but to re-enlist.

Just Look

Look at the tin man, 

hollow through and through, 

jerky little movements, 

a shot of oil will do. 

Now look at the nation 

setting abominations on high 

claiming perfect vision 

with a beam in it’s own eye.

Then look at the least 

where hopes and dreams do end 

reaching out from the abyss 

to pull us all in.

The Pompous Beast 

flicks back it’s hair 

looking down, always down 

from towers obscene 

against blue skies 

laughing at you, 

laughing at your hate, 

laughing at your love

but most of all 

laughing at your fear 

and I love my little world 

but hate the world in which it sits 

and ponder why 

when the question is how 

I come to look down, always down 

from my own tower obscene 

against blue skies

A Slippery Road

To know

without resorting 

to proving

To inspire

without resorting

to competing

To profane

without resorting

to profanity

To win

without resorting

to defeating

To hope

without resorting

to pleading

To own

without resorting

to possessing

To love

without resorting

to being loved

Dry leaves 

we are

falling away

from living limb

to ride the wind

and wave alike

to parts unknown

we accumulate

in heap and pile

we rot or burn.

The News

You saw it on the news so it must be right

yet there’s no real news coverage anywhere.  

Just a conglomerate corporate viewpoint 

and what it wishes to share. 

Then an unavoidable event 

will hit the scene 

but it’s quickly wrapped and packaged 

by forces unseen 

then edited into time slots 

looped endlessly through the night 

and you’ll sit mesmerized 

thinking it’s right 

cuz you saw it on the news.

The only thing that’s going to save us is the one thing we will never do.  

Turn off the news and the news knows that will never happen.

Bleak Horizons

Use to be 

pro golf was a quiet game 

of oohs and ahs. 

Now days 

they shout and scream 

‘get in the hole!’.

Use to be 

narrators called the game. 

Now days 

they chat about anything 

but the game.

Use to be 

we ignored a fool. 

Now days 

they run for the most high.

\

Use to be 

we knew where we stood. 

Now days 

we just sit with gadgets in hand.

Mob Rule

In the mob 

you can really be free 

just the way 

it was meant to be.

In the mob 

you can hate, rape 

and deregulate 

anything you want. 

In the mob 

you can call treason 

concern for a nation 

and get away with it.

In the mob 

you can break and trash 

what you want to smash 

and call it courageous.

In the mob, 

in a spiffy suit 

you can lie and loot 

and rule the world.


* * * * *


There’s plenty who see what’s going on.
More today than ever before
but that won’t stop the knee high boot
from kicking down your door.

Coming back from the dead in a zombie form 

is a bit unreal and taxes the brain 

but becoming cannibals in a dog eat dog world 

is hardly a stretch of the truth. 

The entertainment/advertisement media will push a product in every conceivable way and when someone acts upon it and buys that product they will take full credit for it but when they push acts of violence in the same saturating way and someone acts upon it in the real world they will take absolutely no credit or blame for it at all,

and this is a lot like living in a country that has deprived it’s people of freedoms from the very beginning but advertises itself world wide as the land of the free.

Sometimes I think perhaps we are all just the end result of hundreds of years of false and deceptive advertising.

We are like a nation of used car salesmen slapping a coat of fresh paint on cars with  broken engines and the damnedest thing is we’re selling them left and right.

Jesus to the Pharisee

You block the doorway to heaven.  

You won’t go in yourself 

and prevent anyone else from going in

then you blame and crucify

the one who presents the doorway.

President to the Opposition 

You block all my actions.

You have none of your own 

and refuse to pass anyone else’s 

then you blame and disrespect 

the one who presents the answer.

Sometimes I wonder, does good breed the absurd 

or is the absurd simply the result of good.  

It’s like we can’t have one without the other.

Senior Social Group

One shakes her head in total disgust 

while the other agrees but rarely speaks 

and another one in a all knowing air 

says he never watches the news 

and the disgusted one nods in agreement 

and the youngster on the block rattles off statistics 

and the one who never watches the news 

says he saw on the news 

the whites are now a minority

and the one who rarely speaks snoots 

and the disgusted one looks more disgusted 

and a new one shows up with incredible news 

about some reality show 

and the one who never watches the news 

says he never watches that one either 

but somehow knows what the new one is talking about 

and the youngster says American Idol draws more votes 

than the presidential election 

and the disgusted one sneers 

while the one who rarely speaks says that figures 

and the one who never watches the news 

says he never watches that show either.

The Right Pitch

Right now
America consumes
only about 30%
of the world’s resources
but don’t worry, cheer up,
with a little luck

and right marketing models
there’s a good chance
we can boost that number up
to 75, maybe 80 percent.




The Repetition Model 

When creativity is in short supply
 add an explosion or two
to something old
it will look brand new

and the dummies will watch it
again and again.

Different this Time

Decline in the hi tech society
doesn’t appear as such.
Instead it looks needed, efficient
and smooth to the touch.

And the glossy Nazi
puts brutality far behind.
Preaches the divine
and learns to cry,

and appears to sigh
for all to see
he is no different
than you or me.

So the great unraveling
doesn’t seem so much
as a pin prickle, a tickle
or a day without lunch.

The Congregation

The church was quiet
and all heads were bowed
over praying hands

working smart phones
and when god showed up
nobody even noticed.

A New Leaf

Victims by our own choosing 

the prophet whispered in my ear 

and the same can be said 

for every aspiration and fear. 

But that’s too hard to comprehend! 

I shouted right back 

holding tight to my anger 

and all that I lack 

and calmly waving a hand 

over all the land 

he spoke loud and clear, 

poor Jerusalem my dear 

turn over a new leaf 

and the right journey will begin. 

The leaves will keep on falling 

and the turning will never end. 

Wondrous You

Children laugh and play 

and your babies cry.  

The earth straightens her dress 

and thousands die.

Birds flutter and take flight, 

dogs growl and bark.

The sun shines forth excited, 

great cities go dark.

The moon tugs affectionately 

with nothing to gain.

Man stumbles out of sync

and reaps the shame.

And into this I am born 

without a clue.

A small thing in the arms

of a wondrous you.


 The Nest

A tiny beak pops through,
then a wing cracks the shell
and a slimy, chirping thing
steps forth craving,
oh the craving

under shadows dark
prodding deep, so deep
into the depths
of a craving,
oh the craving.

Alien Blues 

Carrots dangle on strings 

before their eyes 

as whips snap and crack 

in the form of lies  

and the stress and strain  

is all they know 

while a cadence blares 

it’s rock and roll 

and the pay never seems 

to make the grade 

and then there’s the fear 

of another raid 

but the masters still smile 

for all they’ll save 

in the ancient tradition 

of owner and slave.

Old Timer 

When they talk about 

the good old days 

believe me, 

they really were 

the good old days 

till someone came along 

singing their song 

about freedom and change 

as if to rearrange 

and improve upon 

the perfect gods 

of our immaculate youth

Retired 

I can’t, won’t even begin to tell you 

who, what and where I’ve been 

but I feel like a bit of debris 

in the wall of a tornado 

spinning down and 

down  and  down

then  discarded

on the ground 

with nothing

 but  vague  

memories

of better

days

An Aerial View
by Dave Holloway

Notice how the aerial view

make cities look cool and new.

Yet on the streets below,

the same old thing where ever you go.

Whiffs of indifference, melting tar,

sirens screaming near and far.

Vain promises in shiny shoes.

Sidewalk beggars crying the blues.

Outstretched palms, anything will do.

All invisible from an aerial view.

My 55 word entry for http://bluebellbooks.blogspot.com

Life 

The days of our life’s 

are like the pages of a book.  

A good book.  

A book we could go on reading forever. 

Sitting on a table, 

dog-eared and beckoning 

to be picked up again 

but we know it’s almost finished 

so we put it off.

Save it for a time to be savored. 

But we’re conditioned
by due dates and routines  

to hurry through it as fast as we can.

Skimming over paragraphs 

and sometimes whole chapters 

just to get it done with, 

accomplished or whatever.

The Shepherd’s Men 

The shepherd’s men culled the flock.

One in five then feasting on mutton divine.

One became two and two became five.

They stuffed themselves for all was fine.

Feast after feast the sheep soon gone.

The men panicked, sang a woeful song.

Cried to the shepherd give us more sheep.

He agreed and left.  The men fell asleep.

Woke the next morning to their recovery.

Prided themselves in their victory

and to celebrate another culling was done.

The feast began at the setting sun.

Just imagine

welding the same thing

5000 times a day

for anything less

they’ll dock your pay

which graciously amounts

to 12 dollars a day

and it's just good business

only an ocean away

from a ticker tape parade

for rich hero’s who play

while decorated soldiers

are pushed away

by mayors who boast

and cheerfully say

maybe they'll get theirs
some other day.