Poems of the Week

The Damage Undone

by Stephen Gold

“Following protests of Spotify kicked off by Neil Young over the spread of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation [by Joe Rogan],
the music streaming service said that it will add content advisories before podcasts discussing the virus.”
The Washington Times

(with apologies to Neil Young)

I heard him mouthing off on Spotify,
And knew at once it was a fucking lie.
My, my, the damage done.

So I did something they did not foresee,
And told them, “Guys, it’s either him or me.”
Well, well, looks like I won.

At first they thought that I was so past tense,
And backing Joe would make a lot more sense,
But fans camped my side of the fence.

They sent a message, and it surely stung,
Now there’s a hazard warning on his tongue.
Who’s had to kneel folks? Not Neil Young.

It’s not just down to me, but everyone,
To call out fools when there is damage done.
We can’t let charlatans shut out the sun.

Drain Repairman

by Mike Mesterton-Gibbons

“Dominic Cummings says it is his ‘duty to get rid’ of Boris Johnson:
Former No 10 chief adviser describes effort to remove PM from office
as ‘sort of like fixing the drains’”
The Guardian

Dom Cummings here. I used to be your brains
Regarding everything. Now I pursue
A duty that’s a lot like fixing drains—
It’s dirty work that someone has to do.
News leakers, you, Sue Gray and I all know
Redactions—hiding snakiness—aren’t quite
Enough to save your skin. To whistle-blow,
PM, is dutiful, when spite makes right! …
Absorbed in thoughts of monuments to you,
Imagining you’re Emperor of Rome
Revived, you ditched the brains you needed to
Move Downing Street beyond a halfwit’s home …
A drain repairman’s master of the snake—
Now I must flush you out, for duty’s sake!

A Semaphore from the Butterflies of Mission, Texas

by Dan Campion

“A butterfly conservatory is shutting down due to right-wing harassment”
NPR

The chainsaws came to clear a way
For MAGA’s border wall.
Our Center sued, so, sad to say,
Receives threats that appall.
Their right-wing source seems not to care
For our life’s how and why.
Perhaps they’ll learn. We hope we’re there.
It takes two wings to fly.

After Goldilocks

by Ruth S. Baker

“Polar bears move into abandoned weather station”
The Guardian

At first, we must suppose, it was a game;
They saw a box, and in they shambled: males,
Then mums and cubs. And soon it seemed a shame
Not to explore, to climb the stairs; when gales
Rattled the window-frames, they learned to peep,
Dusty but cozy. By and by the dust
Must have grown irksome, so they learned to sweep,
Then decorate: some chairs; some art—a bust;
A paint job (something bright, for winter nights);
Curtains, and under-curtains—even though
They had no neighbors but the Northern Lights,
You’d think. They instituted, even so,
Some sort of spy-hole in the door, a lock,
And marks we could not fail to read: PLEASE KNOCK.

“Professors Say Their Building Is Killing Them”

by Bruce Bennett

“Eric Chicken, Faculty Senate president and professor of statistics at Florida State,
called the [building] revelations ‘serious news,’ saying, ‘I expect that FSU will do everything
it can to protect the members of our university community.'”

Inside Higher Ed

Chicken isn’t too concerned
by the facts he’s so far learned.

“I expect that FSU
will do what it needs to do.”

Others aren’t quite so sure.
Radon, “black debris,” and more
are a daily source of harm
leading to the Profs’ alarm!

Not to worry. There’s an answer
to the spread—and threat—of cancer.
There has been a full report.
There’ll be others of that sort.

Meanwhile, air vents filled with gunk
have been tossed, with other junk.
Everyone can see the meaning
of this careful, thorough cleaning.

Everyone who thinks upon it
can be reassured we’re on it.
Though, of course, all should be prudent:
Do not share this with a student.

Do not blabber to the Press.
We will make it through, we guess.

Meantime, work, but play it cool.

Please! Do not show up at school!

Caught Dead-Handed

by Iris Herriot

“Police suspect that a dead man who was brought to a post office in Ireland
by two men trying to claim his pension had died just hours before the incident.

Gardaí have ruled out foul play”
The Guardian

The Gardai guards are far from lax:
We always pay attention.
The dear departed pay no tax,
And therefore draw no pension,

So when we see one in the queue
With pension book out ready,
Between two smooth explainers who
Support him like a teddy,

We move to stop them at the till,
Evincing our awareness:
We’re ruling out foul play, but still,
We’re ruling in unfairness.

Stories

by Nina Parmenter

A study of 382,000 news articles reveals some of the most common words used in the headlines of stories about women.

Man, First, Kill, Die,
Sex, Baby, Star, Death.
These are words I’m living by—
Female to my last breath.

Condomnation

by Alex Steelsmith

“Princeton University invites students to make ‘art’ with condoms: ‘LatEXHIBITION’…
The condom-inspired artwork will be judged on the evening of Feb. 14, when a ‘National Condom Day’
event will be held at the university… [One student calls the event] ‘crude and undignified.’”

Global Herald

Higgledy-giggledy,
National Condom Day
spawns an exhibit that
causes dissent;

students condemning the
latexhibitionist
spectacle feel it’s a
seedy event.

A Most Demanding Job

by Steven Kent

“Italian Sexism Row Over Job Advert Asking For Bathing Suit Image”
The Guardian

You’re trained to keep the books and type at sixty words per minute?
No need; the job is simply to look pretty.
Your resume? Whatever. Just a photo with you in it
Will do if your bikini’s itty-bitty.

Clean Pair of Wheels

by Julia Griffin

“Robot vacuum cleaner escapes from Cambridge Travelodge”
BBC News

The robot rumbled with disgust.
“That does it! I am bolting.
They will not see me for the dust:
I’m like this floor—revolting.

“I’m heading for the great outdoors
Where tree-lined streams meander,
Away from all these floors of floors
Engrained with crumbs and dander.”

Now watch that little vacuum go!
It’s thereby demonstrated
They do love nature, even though
It’s not reciprocated.

Wordle

by Anna M. Evans

I put my first guess in—no squares go green;
just two go yellow; all the rest are gray.
It’s not the best, and not the worst I’ve seen.
I put my next guess in—one square goes green.
Words scroll my brain like credits on a screen.
I think of all I’ve got to do today.

I put my next guess in—now two squares green,
another yellow, and the last two, gray.
A stack of bills to pay and rooms to clean.
I put my fourth guess in—still two squares green.
Of this, at least (I think) I could be queen—
and rule the Facebook share that brings cachet.

I put my fifth guess in—all squares go green!
Farewell ye yellows!…now to face the gray.

“Plus ça change . . .”

by Catherine Chandler

“Meet 190-year-old Jonathan, the world’s oldest-ever tortoise”
CNN

Whoopily, schtupily,
ancient chelonian
Jonathan celebrates
nine score and ten.

Though his libido is
antediluvian,
still, he can get it on
time and again!

A Senior’s Moment

by Mike Mesterton-Gibbons

A grandma, Jean, was right to be a mite
Suspicious when her grandson called from jail,
Explaining he had driven drunk. His plight
Now needed her to find eight grand for bail …
It’s just too bad her grandsons are so young,
One knows they’re still in driving quite unversed—
Rogue scammers who want grandmas to get stung
Should do their homework on their victims first! …
Ms. Jean informed the crook she wasn’t short
Of cash, to lure him, but supplied in lieu
Mere paper towels, and two police, to thwart
Escape … The moral’s clear: Don’t misconstrue
Near-sounding words, or they may foil your plot—
Though Jean is senior, senile she is not!