There Are Times I Feel Like John Turturro

I’ve spent many a night

with John Turturro

Well, to be fair,

he was using 

a different name

at the time,

Pino or Paulie

or Bernie Bernbaum

Pete Hogwallop

has bantered in 

my living room

on multiple occasions

And, sure, 

he isn’t always 

a great guy,

I wouldn’t leave 

Jesus Quintana 

unsupervised

with my children

Turturro can be tender,

but also gruff, 

even despicable

But each night

we’ve spent together,

no matter the 

pseudonym, 

is no less real than 

any other

And if I’m being honest,

maybe we aren’t 

that different,

he and I

I might not change

from Herbie Stemple

to Barton Fink

with the flick 

of a button,

but I do change

I’ve played roles,

without the camera rolling,

acted in ways 

to fit my surroundings,

to make a better 

first impression,

to maintain professionalism

before clocking out

for the day 

to relax at home 

and be myself,

maybe grab a DVD

and see who John

will be tonight

20 Nov 2019

Disposable Earth

Disposable forks

Disposable spoons 

Disposable knives

Plastic straws

Styrofoam trays

Disposable lives

We throw it all

in a place called

“away”

Away to our landfills

Away to our seas 

We won’t let the Earth

get in the way of our needs 

or our wants and our thrills,

the extra seconds it takes

to refill a water bottle,

to wash a few plates

Disposable Earth 

Oblivious to our fate,

We decided to tack on

an expiration date

27 Nov 2019

A Turkey is Pardoned, Though the Crime is Ours

A turkey is pardoned, 

though he committed

no crime

Spared from the

cold, brutal detachment

of our taste buds

A turkey is pardoned

on the White House lawn

While fifty million others

fail to receive even 

a hint of consideration

A turkey is pardoned, 

though the crime is ours

Hiding behind

a façade of mercy,

offering none

26 Nov 2019

See the poem performed with Dr. Milton Mills and Lynnette Brown

The Failed Candidacy of Eric Swalwell

In the days

of Howard Dean,

when your candidacy

could die with

just a scream,

passing gas

on the news

might have soiled

your reviews

But at this time

when in the 

White House sits

an orange-colored

pile of shit,

a shit with brains

not very smart,

I'd take my chances

with the fart

20 Nov 2019

Screaming With My Indoor Voice

As I look all around,

things sure don’t seem right

But be calm, I’m told

You must be polite

While they laugh at science

and plans that are green,

treating the planet

like an ATM machine 

Withdrawing continuously 

without a hint of regret 

Thinking, like America,

the earth will function in debt 

Be polite, they tell us,

don’t shout with the truth 

as we steal the future

breath by breath from the youth

Our whispers unheard,

our warnings unheeded 

Perhaps raising our voice 

is exactly what’s needed

But if I speak too loudly 

or with too much force,

it’s dismissed as cranky,

snowflake discourse

While we stand behind 

leaders the KKK endorsed 

and confirm judges who

fulfilled urges with force

At times such as these

silence can’t be our choice

Will it help if I scream

with my indoor voice?

A "radical" vegan

with the "radical" choice 

of choosing compassion 

to be my voice 

You ask for my calmness

while you pick up your knives 

and place your orders

to end their lives

I see violence and suffering

on plate after plate

But if I point it out, 

I irritate

I won’t sit in silence 

despite your request 

as you swallow your victims 

and let them digest

A strange definition 

of a personal choice

But I’ll try to scream

with my indoor voice

The Christians keep finding

more people to hate

while they brag that this 

will make America great

If we don’t see the need

for our voices to rise

then take off the red hat

that’s covering our eyes 

My silence may be

the easier choice 

but I choose to scream

with my indoor voice

I see ones I love

support causing harm

It’s long past time 

to ring the alarm

I can still love you 

and not agree with your choice

So I’ll love you while screaming

with my indoor voice

For love and compassion,

for justice and peace,

until all feel safe

when they’re stopped by police

Until our values

align with our choice

We all should be screaming

with our indoor voice

29 Sep 2019

Watch it performed

When You Tweet From Your Toilet, the Whole World Smells Your Shit

If you deleted

the tweets

laced with racism,

sexism, or xenophobia,

removed 

the ones that 

bullied and

called names,

erased the endless

blunders in spelling 

and grammar,

omitted the ones

that contain

at least one lie,

and blocked every

instance of 

shameless 

self-promotion,

his Twitter feed

would be as empty

as his heart

6 Nov 2019

Bargain Shopping

Listening to you
justify killing 
an animal
because the vegan 
version costs 
fifty cents more

Reminds me
how our country
compares human lives
to the price of oil

Calculating 
how much we save
when we pay with 
someone else’s life

1 Nov 2019

Watch it performed