23 September 2019

Careening Off a Cliff With a Clown at the Wheel

Willingly or not,
the whole country
had become 
his clown car
as the lunatic
took a seat 
behind the wheel

The speedometer
read eighty
but he swore
he was reaching
speeds not yet
attempted
as he bumped
recklessly
down his route

An evil glint
flickered in his eyes
when darker hues 
crossed his path

He swerved 
at these innocent 
pedestrians
as they attempted
to dive for what 
little safety 
still remained

He shouted 
out the windows
in incomplete,
incompetent 
sentences
about the really
big brain he claimed
was hiding under
that crazy orange hair

He laughed at
global warming,
stopping to have 
the emissions doubled
just for kicks

Even when the roads
were desolate,
he bragged of the 
enormous crowd
he declared had
gathered to 
cheer him on

The danger sign
warned the bridge
was out ahead
but he hollered,
“Fake news!”
and slammed 
his foot onto
the accelerator

Speeding with his 
eyes closed
towards a bridge
that had long ago
collapsed,

all the while 
proclaiming
how boldly 
we were winning

even as the wheels
no longer
touched the ground
and the descent 
loomed ominously
beneath us,

waiting for us 
to realize
how fast
we were falling,

wondering if
the first clue
of our plunge
would be when 
the metal smashes
the rocks below
and the car’s
ceiling and floor 
become one

with the remains
of our bones
crushed in between

Even then,
with the ground
rapidly approaching,
the clown was 
stuffing his pockets 
while grinning
like a fool


22 Sep 2019

22 September 2019

When We Fail to Notice the Cracks in Our Looking Glass

If you are going
to insist that 
America 
is unable 
to curb
gun violence,
unwilling to 
offer healthcare
for all,
uninterested 
in reforming 
a broken 
prison system,
and can’t be
bothered 
to get the
homeless 
into actual
fucking homes,

then please 
stop bragging
that we are 
the greatest 
country in 
a world of
countries that
you could 
neither describe
nor locate 
on a map 


22 Sep 2019

15 September 2019

Updated Fashion For the Discerning Racist

The look is different,
fashions change 
with the time

Red is the new white
and hat is the new hood

The old gear was 
cumbersome,
now a sleeker design

Red is the new white
and hat is the new hood

It’s cooler in the summer,
nothing covers your eyes 

Red is the new white
and hat is the new hood

Hatred of brown people,
you no longer need to hide 

Red is the new white
and hat is the new hood

Cage the children,
if they don’t come 
from this side

Red is the new white
and hat is the new hood

Shithole countries,
that's where they should reside

Red is the new white
and hat is the new hood

Go back to your country
if your skin’s not like mine

Red is the new white
and hat is the new hood

Ban the damn Muslims
We don’t like their kind

Red is the new white
and hat is the new hood

Wear your racism
Only $19.95

Red is the new white
and hat is the new hood



14 Sep 2019

Through the Years (In Memory of My Loving Grandmother and Her Struggle With Memory)

Hi Grandma

My sweet grandson,
the games we shall play
and the crafts we will make
as we spend our day together 

Hello again, Grandma

I remember less
as time goes by
but I know who you are
and that makes me happy 

Good to see you, Grandma

I remember your face,
but your name escapes me,
I’m sure we’ve met

I love you, Grandma

I don’t know who you are
but your eyes are pretty
and you seem nice 

You seem quiet, Grandma

Words are becoming harder,
everything is confusing,
perhaps it is best
if I don’t speak at all

I miss you, Grandma

Darkness and silence 
surround me,
perhaps now
I will be able
to remember again


13 Sep 2019

Widening the Recall

You know how when they discover that a car part isn’t working how they envisioned, or has some major design flaw, and people are dying or in great danger, they are forced to do a recall?

Yeah, that with AK-47s and AR-15s.


14 Sep 2019

14 September 2019

I’ll Take the Cheeseburger With a Side of Deforestation

Trees falling, burning 
Photosynthesis in reverse
Turning future oxygen
into current carbon dioxide, 
warming the climate 
to feed our gluttonous
appetites for the flesh
we strip from the cattle’s bones


13 Sep 2019

12 September 2019

The North Carolina House of Deceit

“Never forget!”
We always say
But this time we used
those words to betray

the trust of our colleagues,
and the trust of our people
We’d never get our way
if representation was equal

“Honor the fallen
on this day of remembrance,” 
we told the Democrats
to drop their attendance

The chamber will be 
ours very soon
“There will be no votes
until the afternoon”

But we crossed our fingers
as we told our lie,
the way we used to
when we were just five

A three-fifths majority
is easy, you see,
if you get rid of all
those who disagree

But despite our assurances,
before the clock struck nine,
we overrode the veto
down party lines

Take that, Democracy!
Don’t get in our way
We just want to win
these dirty games that we play

You thought we reached 
the lowest we could go?
Oh, we’ve dug tunnels
beneath the damn trolls

The monsters of the swamp
have been relocated,
guest rooms for the lobbyists
now freshly renovated

with the billions of dollars
they pump through the machine
as we fill our pockets
behind the smoke screen


12 Sep 2019

11 September 2019

You’re Not Being Pushed Away From Compassion, You’re Choosing to Run

Of course vegans are passionate. Of course vegans are frustrated. Of course vegans speak out. 

And yes, that makes people uncomfortable.

We reevaluated the ways our culture taught us to thoughtlessly and repeatedly use, abuse, and kill animals. We learned the extent of the environmental destruction from this industry and decided we still kind of want a planet to live on. Now we ask, beg, and plead for you to do likewise: to examine your impacts and not just blindly follow the harm your culture has taught you. 

And most of you ignore us. Many even mock us. Simply for caring. 

But through the mocking, through the dismissal and the frustration, we speak anyway. It shouldn’t be surprising that, for some of us, this comes off as anger at your refusal to stop the harm you are causing. And so, on top of being ignored and ridiculed for our choices, we are collectively viewed as being pushy or preachy. And sure, some of us are, because it is hard to sit quietly and watch the unrelenting outrage taking place. 

But trust me, some of you think we are pushy just for existing.

People do not like thinking their choices are wrong or harmful. Human nature makes self-examination of any perceived flaws uncomfortable. Even stating you are vegan often brings defensiveness from a meat eater. When choices are ethically different, you either have to defend your choices or dismiss the other position, even within your own head. And it is easier to dismiss. To think we are unreasonable. To think we are silly, angry, or pushy. 

The strangest part is that this push to quiet us, to calm us, comes from the progressives, the same ones who shout loudly for other social justice issues. The ones we stand with in our shared quests for justice and equality.

We wouldn’t demand subtle politeness in our struggle for equal rights. We don’t tell people standing up against sexism that they should be less bold or they’ll turn people away from the cause. We don’t ask those who fight for LGBTQ rights to be calm and gentle and wait for gradual transitions to acceptance. 

Yet, when it comes to veganism, we are told to be calm and quiet, while millions die every hour.

We wouldn’t ask for compromise in these fights for justice, past or present.

Would we have been content if half of the slaves were set free? Perhaps we would have celebrated allowing only one-third of women to vote? Maybe people could be slightly less sexist, when the mood strikes. Perhaps they could not harass on Wednesdays (that’s better than harassing every day, right?). Maybe they could bake cupcakes for a gay couple instead of a wedding cake, or issue a civil union license if the idea of marriage bothers them. Maybe we could agree to have only one child separated per family at the border.

If we would not accept these policies of compromise on justice and equality, why would you expect someone else to accept compromise in their struggles for justice just because the victims aren’t important to you? Why should vegans be content with partial gains, a slight reduction in your harm? Why can’t we simply say that causing unnecessary harm is wrong, without your claiming we are elitist for believing our opinion is the right one? 

When has causing unnecessary harm to others been the right decision? Sure, there are times it has been legal, but when has it ever been right?

We are allowed to think it is wrong to kill animals. We don’t have to legitimize your claim that it is fine to kill them, that it is your “personal choice.”

We know we are “right” in believing one shouldn’t be a racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-immigrant asshole, even if one can make the “personal choice” to be exactly that. We don’t have to whisper our dissent. We don’t have to say “well maybe you could consider not doing that so much, pretty please.” We can loudly and proudly support the rights and lives of all humans. We should be able to do so for non-humans as well.

Yelling is certainly not my preferred method of discussion and awareness. And I agree there are more effective methods, but subtle hints are too easy for you to ignore and lives are literally on the line.

While there are some facts meat eaters might truly not know (the rainforest destruction, the pollution, the greenhouse gas emissions, the shrinkage of the food supply), it is hard to say someone (beyond the age of maybe eight) doesn’t know they are killing animals to eat them. 

The most frustrating part about being vegan isn’t having to inform people of the harm that comes from their choices but that even when people are informed, most of them still have no interest in making changes. 

The only reason people claim they won’t go vegan “because vegans are pushy” is because they didn’t want to be vegan in the first place. It is an excuse to avoid examining the argument so they can continue guilt-free with their current choices.

Male infant circumcision, like meat eating, has been a cultural norm, widely accepted by the majority of the population for years. But there certainly are, and have been, dissenters. If someone was standing outside a hospital yelling that circumcision was cruel and unnecessary and the right choice was to not circumcise your child, no one would think, “Well, I’m definitely circumcising my baby now because this guy is pushy.” Maybe we would wonder what the concern was, how harm could be involved with this choice. Maybe we wouldn’t want to learn from the man who was yelling. Maybe we wouldn’t care to hang out with him at pot-lucks. But we might want to know so we could come to our own conclusions. So we use the internet and/or get input from trusted friends or professionals and make our own informed decision. But we don’t make the choice in direct opposition to the guy screaming his head off, just because we found him rude.

People aren’t joining a vegan cult or a vegan church. They don’t have to socialize with vegans. We’re just asking that they choose some rice and beans and cashews and clementines and save some animals, and maybe still save the planet too. 

Sure, I’ll still offer you love. I’ll try to speak with kindness and understanding. I’ll try to remember that I too once thought differently, but that doesn’t mean I have to accept your choice to cause harm to others. I have the right to dissent, with or without your blessing.

Whether or not you want to listen, whether or not your sensibilities are offended, whether we are polite or rude, and whether we are whispering or shouting, it’s still the right choice. Because your choice isn’t personal when it has victims.


11 Sep 2019

This is a response to the "vegans are pushy" responses to this amazing NYT article: Stop Mocking Vegans

09 September 2019

All Those Gutter Balls

When 45 claims he'll be remembered for his great speeches, he does realize we've heard him speak, right? It's one thing to brag that you're rock solid at your bowling game when no one has ever seen you roll. But when the whole nation has watched all your gutter balls...


8 Sep 2018

05 September 2019

Waiting for Condensation

Truth evaporates
just outside 
your ears

The canals
heavily guarded 
by justification

Armed well with 
old defenses, 
refusing truth’s
repeated attempts 
to enter

and forcing truth
to linger 
unwatched 
and unnoticed,
its molecules 
slowly escaping 
into the air
until only a 
hint of vapor 
remains


4 Sep 2019

04 September 2019

Better Grab the Sharpie

When you work
for a president
who tells nothing but lies,
you learn to create
alternative facts

When he says the 
hurricane is headed
a different way,
you have to create 
alternative maps


4 Sep 2019

Trump's Map

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration map





03 September 2019

A Partial Love Affair

Dear Columbus, 
I’m not fond 
of your traffic
nor the struggle 
to find a parking space 
and I have no love 
for the street parking 
on both sides 
that leaves a 
two-way one-lane road,
but, oh, 
your vegan food is divine


3 Sep 2019