But the Promise to be a Bigot Wasn't Broken

It wasn’t about her emails,
they weren't going to lock her up,
the swamp wasn't going to be drained,
and Mexico wasn't going to pay for it

29 Jul 2019

Earth Enters Hospice Care

The diagnosis was terminal,

the patient’s suffering 

evident, from being

battered and neglected 

through her many years

Continuously harmed

by the very ones 

for whom she had

endlessly provided

But her offerings

were never sufficient

Greedily they always

demanded more

They took everything

she could give,

using it momentarily

then discarding it

carelessly on her floor

The rot piled quicker

than she could handle,

seeping into her soil,

into her water

She lay on her death bed,

the thermometer in her mouth

noting the alarming rate

with which her temperature

continued to rise

As her sickness escalated,

calls to her family were made

Many denied she was sick at all,

Many wished they could help

but were too busy 

with their own lives

and couldn’t be bothered

to help ease her pain,

Some simply ignored 

the phone’s insistent ringing

Unwilling to admit 

they cannot live

without her,

that their children 

will suffer the consequences 

of their indifference

But the patient

won’t fully die,

at some point

the invasive parasites

that push her 

relentlessly

towards her demise

will cease to be,

and then finally,

with their weight

off her sagging shoulders,

she can begin to heal

24 Jul 2019

inspired by a conversation with my friend, Zach

Watch it performed, featuring music by Zach

Maybe We Should Have Thought This Through

We’ll laugh 
when we tell
our grandkids
how we
saved them
from this dumb
liberal plot
to protect
the only planet
we had to live on

24 Jul 2019

Watch it performed

And I Thought You Liked "Telling It Like It Is"

But when we point out

that Trump is a racist, y’all

get all snowflakey

23 Jul 2019

Stop Pretending You Are Being Patriotic

If you are currently saying, 

“If you don’t love this country, then leave,” 

you would have said it to:

Martin Luther King
Malcolm X
Susan B. Anthony
Alice Paul
Cesar Chavez
Angela Davis
James Baldwin
Medgar Evers
Thurgood Marshall
Gloria Steinem 
Fannie Lou Hamer
Ruth Bader Ginsburg 
Diane Nash
Baryard Rustin
Muhammad Ali 
and so many others 

Or, if you are old enough, 

maybe you already did

21 Jul 2019

A Message from the Deer

It takes nerve to call

us overpopulated

when you have billions

16 Jul 2019

You Knew It Was Racist

The year is 2015,

Donald Trump is

constantly insulting

the president

and the policies 

of our government

President Obama,

on live television,

claims Trump clearly 

doesn’t love this country

and insists he 

should go back

to his original country

If your response

to this scenario

is that it wouldn’t

even make sense

for him to say,

then you already knew

You knew that 

telling an American

that you disagreed with,

or didn’t like,

or looked down upon

to go back to their country

was racist

The phrase has always

had racist meaning

The reason the 

sitting president

keeps saying racist things

is because he is racist

Don’t be like 
the president

19 Jul 2019

Oh no! We've Upset the Racists...

Trump uses openly racist words

     193 House Republicans: We see no problem

Democrats call the racist words racist

     193 House Republicans: That’s offensive!

18 Jul 2019

Center for American Progress article (for reference)

Not the Way We Come Out

Blood gushes from my neck

   Rib roast

   Chuck steak

   Brisket

Blood pours from my belly

   Club steak

   Rib-Eye

   Porterhouse

Blood spills from my ass

   Sirloin

   Tenderloin

   Rump roast

Blood trickles from my legs

   Meatball

   Roast Beef
   Pot roast

Blood flows from my veins

   Corned beef

   Hamburger

   Filet mignon

Blood spills everywhere

   Muscles
   Tendons

   Cartilage

Blood splatters the floor

   Skin

   Eyeballs

   Intestines

Blood drips from my heart

We go in alive,

eighteen months of age,

joined together in one piece,

But that is not the way we come out

Oct 2018

Watch it performed

the surprised look on their severed heads was priceless

in an article

about a voter proposition

asking that chickens

get “cushier” lives of

still being crammed

together, but

without cages,

a highlighted farmer

refers to his place as

“Chicken Disneyland”

because of the toys

he has started to hang 

for them to play with

how sweet,

how kind,

it must be

memories of 

Disneyland

must be flashing 

through your head

the cool sights

the fun sounds

all of the things to enjoy

the way your children

got so excited as

they stood in line

for Big Thunder Mountain

the screams of joy,

hands in the air

oh, the smiles

until the climax of

the ride’s end,

the magic captured 

forever for you on film,

as the ride concludes, 

decapitating each one

a small price to pay,

you remind yourself,

for the joy on their faces

you are glad you didn’t 

ruin their day

by revealing
the ending's 
final twist

you’d go back,

you insist,

if only you had more kids

to send on the rides

5 Nov 2018

Watch the performance

On Your Inauguration

20 Jan 2017

Dear Mr. Trump,

I never thought this day would come. I never thought enough people would see you as an appropriate choice for a leader.

I too want to make America great, but not just for the rich. Or the white. Or the straight. Or the Christian.

When I think of making America great, I think of taking care of each other, not mocking them. When I think of making America great, I think of leading in finding ways to be good stewards of the environment, not ignoring our destruction of it. When I think of making America great, I think of working to ensure genuine access to great education and healthcare, not only for the rich.

Maybe you'll surprise me, but it would be the biggest surprise of my life. More likely, if you saw my words, you would mock me. You would make fun of me for what I wrote or what I looked like. Because that is what you do, Mr. Trump. You mock and ridicule any thought or argument or person who does not agree with you. 

Maybe your goal is to see how far, how crazy, and how hateful your rhetoric can become and still have the Republican Party support and back you. Maybe you placed a bet with a friend over pocket change (as you pull out a few million as easily as most of us pull out a twenty) to see how quickly you could take down education, or speed up climate change, or diminish our standing in the world. Maybe this is a joke to you or a bad dream for me. Maybe you'll get to laugh or I'll get to wake up.

20 Jan 2017

on the day of his inauguration

Reality (An Angry Cow Haiku)

You cannot deny 

eating meat kills someone who

didn’t want to die

Feb 2019

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Sales

1.

Design is marketing,

marketing is sales,

and sales is the reason

we are in business

And business,

of course, 

must always

move forward

Our packaging is stale,

out of touch,

old school,

reeking of 1990s

So here you sit,

the best of the best,

the fresh crop

brought in 

to revitalize our packaging

Go. Make me proud.

2. 

Dean, have a seat

We need to talk

Farm Fresh Fairy Tales

No, no, sweetie,

don’t you cry

That little piggie

wanted to die     

Bacon is so good

and yummy

Don’t you want more

in your tummy?

Eating meat

makes you strong and big,

don’t cry over

a dirty pig

She gives us milk,

that sweet, old cow

Her baby doesn’t 

need it now

Her udders are

so big and full

She’s thankful when

we start to pull

My Suffering Was of No Concern

I know which way

I’m meant to go

But the echoes

of screams

fill my ears

and the stench

of blood

engulfs my nostrils

No one

walks that way

intentionally

Metal walls and

an electric prod

ensure

my lack

of alternatives

We’re marched

in a line

one after the next

Fear spreads around us

It's in our cries

It's on our breath

The humans around us,

seemingly oblivious

to our pain,

force us to continue

through the twists

and the turns

towards 

the terror

that lies ahead

An Elephant’s Lament

Someone once told me,

and I never forget,

that I need meat for protein

Well… shit!

I eat only plants,

I thought I was strong,

tremendously healthy,

I guess I was wrong

23 Jun 2019

One if by Sea, Two if by Airport

Listen, my children, and you shall hear

of the president who couldn’t think very clear,

on the fourth of July, twenty-nineteen:

when rain malfunctioned his teleprompter machine

He stood at the mic, telling all in attendance

how the army manned the air

in our War of Independence

Cornwallis of Yorktown was filled with despair,

when he realized the airports were no longer theirs

Washington’s squadron was expertly trained

in weapons of war that refused to be restrained

by the century in which their invention occurred

Defeat was imminent, Cornwallis conferred

“But lose not your faith,” he yelled through the cheers,

“We’ll wait at Fort McHenry, for thirty more years!”

The president told of many brave acts

using, as usual, alternative facts

He ran the ramparts with rambled confusion

as he came to historically-interesting conclusions

7 Jul 2019

referencing, of course, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Ride of Paul Revere

Watch it performed

Watch Trump's referenced speech

this photo was shared by Going to Hell in Every Religion (not sure of its creator)

Is It Too Much to Ask?

Is it too much to ask

that our Secretary of Education 

would actually know and value

public education?

Is it too much to ask

that our Director of the EPA

would actually care about

protecting the environment?

Is it too much to ask

that the president 

of our country 

wouldn’t just grab

women without consent? 

Is it too much to ask

that you actually vote 

and stop this shit

from happening again?

Mar 2019