by Iris Herriot

“Long-lost anti-fascist mural from 1930s restored and back on show in Mexico”
—The Guardian

While Mexico prepares to show an anti-fascist mural,
We self-administer a kind of civic epidural:
Why march? Why join? The news is so fatiguing we’re near fainting;
So let’s instead admire this monumental, distant painting.

by Julia Griffin

“The official portrait of First Lady Melania Trump was captured on January 21, 2025,
in the Yellow Oval Room of the residence by esteemed photographer Régine Mahaux.”
—whitehouse.gov

Her hair is loose. Her skin is tight.
This FLOTUS is our most soignée.
She sees the world in black and white:
It’s all more elegant this way.

This FLOTUS is our most soignée.
The light is sharp. The lines are clean.
It’s all more elegant this way:
Half CEO, half Disney Queen.

The light is sharp. The lines are clean.
She’s guarded by an obelisk:
Half CEO, half Disney Queen.
You’re welcome, if you take the risk;

She’s guarded by an obelisk,
Remote and cool against the sky.
You’re welcome, if you take the risk:
Come, look her in the narrowed eye.

Remote and cool against the sky,
Her hair is loose, her skin is tight.
Come, look her in the narrowed eye:
She sees the world in black and white.

by Alex Steelsmith

“The legend of alligators inhabiting the sewer system of New York City is a widely circulated urban myth
… [T]hese alligators are often described as large and vicious… Alligator in the Sewer Day [is] celebrated
on February 9.”
—Wikipedia

Snappy, crappy
sewer gators
faze New Yorkers
not a bit;

some describe the
legendary
creature as a
croc of sh__.

by Clyde Always

“Bills season ends in AFC championship loss to Chiefs”
—Sports Illustrated

For my sister

Those rosy, faithful fools out in the snow,
whose football team’s forever blizzard-tossed:
more die-hard fans the game will never know.

Their zeal they showed, in 10-degrees-below,
by smashing plastic tables, stiff with frost—
those rosy, faithful fools out in the snow.

They swore, “Once Allen’s trounced Mahomes—our foe—
we’ll feast on wings and skate Lake Erie, sauced!”
More die-hard fans the game will never know.

This victory, they knew, would soothe the blow
dealt decades past: those four Big Games, all lost—
those rosy, faithful fools out in the snow.

Alas, their whoops gave way to wails of woe
when one last screaming spiral proved star-crossed.
More die-hard fans the game will never know.

Once more, they’ll yearn all year for Autumn’s glow
then don their well-worn sweaters, BILLS-embossed.
Those rosy, faithful fools out in the snow:
more die-hard fans the game will never know!

by Steven Urquhart Bell

“Moby Dick author Herman Melville’s London townhouse is for sale for £9 million”
—London Standard

It’s a townhouse in London where prices are high,
And it used to belong to an eminent guy,
And the fixtures and fittings are probably nice,
But I still think they’re asking a whale of a price.

by Neil Doherty

“Tiny mites seem capable of relying on the power of static cling to hop into hummingbird nostrils
and move between flowers.”
—The New York Times

We’re nibbling on the pollen and we’re sipping on the nectar,
The hummingbird is lingering in iridescent flight.
But the pollen’s always sweeter in another floral sector,
So we book a nasal passage, and it doesn’t cost a mite.

by Dan Campion

“Trump, Musk suggest sped-up return of NASA astronauts [Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams],
but details scarce”
—Reuters

“Move fast and break things.”
—Mark Zuckerberg

Are Don and Elon aping Zuck
And trusting breakage and good luck
To get those astronauts unstuck?
Dear Butch and Suni, please take care!
We all know haste makes vaporware.

by Alex Steelsmith

“After nine months stuck in the [moving Weddell Sea ice] pack… the ship slid down
to her frigid grave. No one ever expected to see the stout little ship again…
[Until 107 years later…] Out of the abysmal darkness, a century’s worth of wonder,
history, and legend filled the screen. The port side of the Endurance, still
resplendent… as if it sank yesterday, emerged from the gloom.”
—National Geographic

Shackleton’s vessel was moving, although
Nature compelled her to go with the floe,
Shackled in irons of north-drifting ice
Slowly becoming a merciless vise.

Thus, he would launch his historical trip
After the Weddell had swallowed his ship;
Fractured and scuttled, Endurance was doomed
Never again to be seen, he assumed.

More than a century later—behold!—
Deep in the fathomless darkness and cold,
Shackleton’s ship is impossibly found
Upright, her timbers astoundingly sound.

Cameras robotically panning the wreck
Capture the brittle stars manning her deck;
Life, to perennial hardship, inures.
Shackleton lives, and Endurance endures.

by Nora Jay

“President Donald Trump’s first actions in the Oval Office included rolling back healthcare
policies put forth by former President Joe Biden, including expansions to the Affordable Care Act…”
—Fox News

I voted for the MAGA King, Big Don:
He’s promised to reduce the price of eggs!
And that’s why I don’t care my healthcare’s gone,
And probably I’m going to lose my legs.

by Bruce Bennett

“Anders Vistisen, a Danish member of the European Parliament, told President Donald
Trump to ‘f*** off,’ in response to Trump touting the idea of buying Greenland.”
—CNN

Let’s hear it for the Danish.
Plain speaking’s for the Dane.
Greenland’s been theirs eight hundred years,
and theirs it will remain.

And here’s one Dane who says so,
Who speaks up for their land,
and uses words— a few at least—
that Trump can understand.

by Alex Steelsmith

“The Commander in Chief Ball was only the first of three balls the president planned to stop by…
[The balls] are a longtime tradition… The first inaugural ball was held in 1809 for President James Madison…”
—USA Today

Normally, formally,
incoming presidents
dance in extravagant
ballrooms and halls.

One could infer that they
feel a compulsion to
ritualistically
show they have balls.

by Ruth S. Baker

“Men have grown twice as much as women over past century, study shows
Data from dozens of countries reveals height and weight differences
between sexes have increased since 1900″
—The Guardian

Where are they found, these giant men
With mighty torsos, arms, and feet?
You’re likely to remember when
You’re next assigned a middle seat.

by Dan Campion

“Yes, a US Senator Displayed Misspelled Poster During Hegseth Confirmation Hearing”
—Snopes

Oh, sht, Misery’s Senatr
Has spelt it “MILTARY”?
Our military must defer
And redo, yessiree,
They’re signage, so it shal agree
With MAGA poster buoys.
If eny fuel dere disagree,
Beewear hume he annoise.

by Mike Mesterton-Gibbons

“Chimney sweeps asked to park away from customer homes,
due to wood-burning stove embarrassment”
—LBC

Please, Chimney Sweep, don’t park your sooty van
At my front door when sweeping out my flue:
Remain as incognito as you can.
Keep mum about particulates I spew.
A Brighton Council ad campaign upbraids
Wood-burning stoves for dirtying clean air,
And if folks learned I’m burning wood in spades,
You’d cause embarrassment beyond repair
For me—I beg you, park away from me …
Relax. No sweat. I’ll paint my van: the phrase
“Orchestral Coach” will blot out “Sweep” and be
My cover, this old tuba case conveys
My tools … and you must sound this tuba—or,
Embarrassment may threaten like before!

by Steven Kent

“Rats get taste for drugs in Houston evidence room”
—The Guardian

Hey Templeton, you lazy little sot,
In Houston there’s a sight you’ve got to see: a
Warehouse full of confiscated pot
All locked up tight (I’ll bet there’s sinsemilla).

Let’s hop a freight and raid that sticky stash,
Then party till we cannot walk or stand. It’s
Bound to make us famous in a flash:
Two barnyard rats, two crafty contrabandits!