Naming the Enemy

Each time we declare war on another culture,
we coin dehumanizing names for them
so we can kill them without remorse.

Redskin, Rusky, Haji, Gook,
Gerry, Nigger, Raghead, Dink,
Injun, Greaseball, Cracker, Spook,
Polack. Pickaninny, Jap, Chug, Chink.

We use language to turn them into something
other than fellow souls with similar dreams,
patriotic ideals, and families who love them.

The names help justify the indiscriminate
killing of soldiers and civilians
by reducing them to less than human.

SS America

The Ship of State is commanded by a spoiled boy
who steers his vessel in circles just to prove he can.
The crew collapses on the deck as the strings that move
their limbs begin to fray and finally break.
The passengers bicker among themselves whether
the captain is a demon or a grifter or a narcissistic idiot.
The survivors of other sunken vessels must tread water
until the frightened skipper knows flotsam from jetsam.
The first mate screams that fuel is running low
so the captain sends an S.O.S. to a ship lurking nearby.
No one seems to notice that ship flies the Jolly Roger
and its shirtless captain wears a knowing smile.
They don’t see the silent torpedoes coming through
the choppy sea until it’s too late for SS America.

Winter Sky

A tiny glistening speck
tears holes in cumulus cotton.
Faster than sound
it drags shreds of vapor
from a growling bear into
a seven-legged dragon and
an old man’s head.

Idiots

People whose ideas
oppose my ideas
are not idiots.
They have different beliefs.

Grandpa

When you forced your filthy penis

into your granddaughter’s mouth

you sated your demented lust

and sold your soul to the devil.

When you used her tiny body

to satisfy your desires,

you vandalized her innocence

without a shred of remorse.

When that was not enough for you,

you slithered through the branches

of your family tree and poisoned

more of your own progeny.

You’re the lowest form of human life,

a scum-filled predator with no redemption.

An eternity in hell falls short

of the fate that you deserve.

Casualties of War

Abused children are so hungry for relief
from their pain of trauma and abandonment
they are prime candidates for drug addiction,
illness and emotional disorders.
That insatiable craving for nurturing and security
doesn’t go away when they reach adulthood
and they have more access to addictive behaviors.

So America’s war on drugs is a war waged against
people who were abused as children.
Its battlefield strategy is to punish those people
for being abused by turning them into felons
and incarcerating them for long periods
in prisons where they are likely to be abused.
Like most wars, there are heavy casualties.

Blind Loyalty

Members of the military
wear blind loyalty like a badge of honor
to justify behavior that is immoral
in the real world.

A Suit for a Suit

Could I bring suit
against the Trump Administration
on behalf of my great-grandchildren
for putting their health at risk?

It would be difficult to make a case on my behalf
since I may only be around for another 15 years.
But their lives and health will certainly be harmed
by the removal of regulations that are
based on almost universally accepted science.

The health and lives of millions of children
around the world is being put at risk
by profiteers who are ignoring global warming
and environmental pollution.

Would a suit take my suit?

The American Creed

I am an American.

I have the right
to indulge my every whim at the expense of all other living things on the earth,
to accumulate wealth by any means because the end justifies those means,
to pay as little as possible for my food regardless of the impact on the rest of the world,
to consume the earth’s resources without regard for the welfare of other societies and
to waste fossil fuel and foul the atmosphere with my SUVs, ATVs and snowmobiles.

I believe
American lives are more valuable than the lives of citizens from any other country,
the welfare of Americans is more important than the welfare of other people,
the education of my children takes precedence over the education of other children,
my country should never apologize for anything it has ever done
and military might makes America right.

I am an American.

The Bully

Donald Trump is a liar and a bully.
His style of “deal making”
is meeting every confrontation
with an overblown threat
and the promise of escalation.

That’s not deal making.
It’s being a bully.
The problem with that tactic
is there is always the chance
of confronting another
more narcisstic bully.