Chaos reigned supreme
Trump found his snidely stride
Like a flesh-eating virus
That eats you from inside
And no one’s found an answer
His Party won’t expose him
It’s simply inexplicably inexplicable
The blind support of those who chose him
He’s a charlatan, a crook
He cares for nothing but himself
He’s an homunculus made from discarded trash
By a satanic, sniveling elf
They say,
The new Congress may have some leverage
Mueller probably has the dirt
But Fat Donnie’s got nuclear weapons
And doesn’t care who may get hurt
He should be dragged away in chains
And buried in a pit
To be forgotten until he rots away
Like plastic…and all the World’s worst shit
Hardly anything else seems pertinent
He’s the blight that keeps on giving
And I feel threatened and unbalanced
By things that normally make life worth living
But
I’ve been the couplet crier for forty-four years
So, humbly, if I may
Here’s my iambic-esque submission
That began last New Year’s Day
•••
First Trump chided Kim Jung-un
Called him Little Rocket Man
But, then they “fell in love”
As only two insidious despots can
The Bomb Cyclone hit the East Coast
It was snowing way down South
Steve Bannon was forced out at Breitbart
For saying things with his mouth
There was a false nuclear scare in Hawaii
Hawaiians were running amuck
Larry Nassar is in prison for 175 years
Because sexual predators suck
A masacre in Las Vegas
Carnage in a Parkland school
A senseless attack in Pittsburgh
By some anti-Semitic fool
Florida, Mississippi and Thousand Oaks
My granddaughter’s school…Oh FUCK!
Surviving gun violence in the USA
Is sadly, a matter of dumb luck
A jawbone found in an Israeli cave
Changed archaeological thinking
By 50,000 years, at least
In terms of missing linking
Stormy Daniels, Stormy Daniels, Stormy Daniels…oh, my!
The GOP Intelligence Committee
(There’s an oxymoron in there somewhere)
Concluded no collusion between the Russians and Trump
Or, if they found it, they didn’t care
Putin won the Russian Presidency
What an astonishing surprise
He was humbled by his people’s support
You could see it in his steely, maniacally murderous eyes
A woman was killed by a self-driving Uber
An Austin bomber blew himself to bits
Cambridge Analytics hacked FaceBook data to aid the Trump campaign
I guess, if the election-tampering shoe fits…
Paul Ryan didn’t run for reelection
He can’t be gone too soon
Kim Jong-un took a stroll across the DMZ
To meet with Jae-in, Moon
Wells Fargo paid nearly a $1B fine
For cheating customers for years
There was a national school walkout for gun safety reform
But it fell mostly on deaf ears
Paul Manafort has flipped, (or not)
Michael Cohen’s a flipper too
Flipper was a TV seal
I remember him, do you?
Trump pardoned Scooter Libby
One of Cheney’s traitorous boys
The US/Israeli embassy moved to Jerusalem
Which has angered many goys
Cuba is finally Castro-less
Papa John made racial slurs
The Supreme Court says a baker can cancel your cake
If his beliefs are not like yours
Laura Ingraham was spanked by advertisers
For attacking the Parkland class
And for violating FCC standards
For reporting with her head up her ass
Ollie North is the new NRA pres
He’s always had cold, dead hands
The royal wedding was obscene at $45M
But a cool gig for wedding bands
Kilauea blew its top on the Big Island
Trump canceled the Iran nuclear deal
The Court said on-line sports gambling is cool
How does that make you feel?
Ireland voted for abortion rights
Mexico’s got a leftist gov
Sears’ declared bankruptcy first, then they called it quits
Because push had come to shove
O Cannabis
Canada has legalized pot
Trump’s policy for the EPA
Is that he’d rather not, (P, that is)
Trump thought he was in the running for the Nobel Peace Prize
What a narcissistic fool
The real prize went to two heroic African doctors
Who fought against sexual violence as a political tool
His Orangeness wanted a kick-ass military parade
To commemorate Veteran’s Day
But when they wouldn’t let him have one
He just stayed in bed like a fucking asshole*
*(Get over it…Stevie Wonder once rhymed “care” and “heart”)
Russian oligarchs funneled at least $500K
To Trump through Paulie M. and Mikey Cohen
But when the boys started singin’ like the Fat Lady
They sang they were not working alone
A crazed bomber used the President’s hit list
And sent explosives through the mail
Luckily he was an idiot
And now he’ll rot, for life, in jail
The mid-terms were tumultuous
Floridians still can’t and shouldn’t count
Trump was devastated by losing, “By how much?”, you may ask
Dr. John said, “The normal amount”
Jeff B. Sessions got the boot
For recusing himself on ‘collusion’
The OED word-of-the-year was “Toxic”
Because “Normalcy” is just an illusion
Trump’s Medal of Freedom picks included Elvis
Roger Staubach, Alan Page, Babe Ruth
Antonin Scalia, Orrin Hatch and, are you kidding me, Miriam Adelson?
No lie…I’m telling the truth
Thousands of Hondurans fled their country
Marched through Mexico toward our border
Trump claimed they were a marauding invasion
But then, his brain is out of order
A war crimes verdict finally concluded
The Khmer Rouge committed genocide
MBS ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi
Oh yeah…and then he lied
But “that’s OK”, said our fearless leader
“MBS is really cool!
He said he didn’t do it.
Do you think that I’m his tool?”
Jim Acosta was stripped of his White House press pass
A judge ordered it be given back
Fires raged through California
Because our climate is out of whack
People were outraged by a GoFundMe scam
And all I have to say
Is that we’re being scammed by Big Pharma, Big Oil and Big Gov
Every single day
Brexit, Brexit, Brexit
The UK should get a grip
And Cheerio, Pip Pip and eat some ‘crisps’
With a stiffened upper lip
Ivanka used her personal email account
For her mysterious White House job
The US Border Patrol lobbed tear gas
At an invading mom and infant mob
Fred Trump gave Donnie millions
Self-made man, my ass
And Fred colluded with the bone spur doctor
That gave young Don a military pass
The Russians attacked some Ukrainian ships
I think because they could
Insight landed safely on the surface of Mars
I think that’s kinda good
GM closed 5 plants
Oh me, oh me, oh my oh
Fairy Trumpfather’s magic wand must be broken
In gullibly red Ohio
Oh, and Manafort lied so his deal got cancelled
The climate report says we’re screwed
Trump’s got a big, smart gut…smarter than anyone’s brain
I hope we never see it nude
A massive quake rattled Alaska
Anchorage was shaken
There were riots in the streets of Gay Paris
Protesting bad choices the government’s makin’
Lion Air Flight 610 crashed
They said because of AI confusion
There was actual voter fraud in NC, (by Republicans, go figure)
FOX says, “Conspiratorial illusion.”
Meng Wenzhou, China’s Huawei chief
Was arrested on Canadian soil
Stocks were up, down, up, down, down
Like the daily cost of oil
The Saudis are starving the people of Yemen
We’ve been helping them from afar
The Senate finally said, “No more!
This isn’t really who we are.”
Trump employs hundreds of undocumented workers
He wants to oil-drill five million more acres
Maria Butina pled guilty to espionage
For being one of them Russian spy fakers
Climate change v. Carbon taxes
Penalties for bad behavior?
Personally, I think the mere threat of extinction
Should be the planet’s savior
White supremacist, James Fields was sentenced to life
For killing Heather Heyer
A Virgin Galactic flight reached the edge of outer space
Good news for the tourist space flyer
John Kelly got the axe
He wasn’t quite awful enough
Ryan Zinke quit but should have done the perp walk
For all of his illegal, interior stuff
Mike Flynn appeared in court for sentencing
“You disgust me!”, said the judge
We’ve had the worst Market performance since the Depression
Investors said, “Oh, fudge!”
More horrible reports of sexual abuse
The Catholic church supports unrepentant sinners
It’s a shameful breach of faith
From which there are no winners
Astronomers discovered 2018-VG18, nicknamed, “Far Out”
At our Solar System’s farthest point
The Trump Foundation was forced to shut itself down
To keep from stinking up the joint
First Step Criminal Justice Reform passed
Trump signed it into law
Mattis quit his Defense Secretary job
Because of all the crazy shit he saw
Trump ordered the troops out of Syria
Claiming ISIS had been defeated
Oh, and he’ll call most of the troops home from Afghanistan
Because he thinks that mission’s been completed
Brett McGurk, the Anti-ISIS envoy
Gasped and said goodbye
Trump’s hissy fit for a border wall
Has left the government high and dry
Two immigrant kids died in US custody
There’s simply no excuse
For inhumane treatment of anyone
Or for government-funded child abuse
Trump snuck off to see the troops in Iraq
Turned it into a political rally
Like a heartless, self-absorbed, sleazy
Creep in a dark alley
Colin O’Brady, of Oregon, bundled up
Took supplies and a working sat phone
Then walked across, (and I don’t know why)
Antarctica, all alone
•••
Peter Martins was forced out from the NYC Ballet
Amidst allegations of abuse
Bill Cosby became inmate NN7687
Because of power and drug misuse
James Levine was fired from The Met
Les Moonves, ousted from CBS
Roseanne was cancelled
Because Roseanne is one hot mess
Bruno Mars won all the Grammys
If I’m remembering clearly
The Shape of Water won the Oscar
Because a girl loved her fish so dearly
The Band’s Visit won 10 Tonys
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was the year’s Best Play
Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer
For rapping some shit one day
The Kennedy Center Honors went to Reba McEntire
Cher and Philip Glass, (Philip Glass, Philip Glass,Philip Glass,Philip Glass…)
Wayne Shorter and Hamilton
The Trumps yawned and took a pass
Game of Thrones won the Emmy
The Marvelous Mrs. Maiselwon one too
Caroll Spinney retired after 50 years of being Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch
What are we going to do?
#MeToo may have over-stepped
By hard-lining what is moral
But, thank god Panetone’s color of the year
Is my favorite…Living Coral
Kevin Hart is going to host the Oscars
What’s that? Oh, no he’s not
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” was once a cool duet
Now it’s making assholes hot
•••
Alabama rallied, beating Georgia in OT
To be crowned NCAA football’s best
Roger Federer won the Australian Open
His 20th aced Grand Slam test
The Eagles won their first Super Bowl
But when it came time to grant them
A White House visit, they decided to pass
In support of kneeling for the anthem
Notre Dame women and Villanova men
Were the NCAA B-ball winners
The Washington Capitals won it all
As Stanley Cup beginners
Justify won the Triple Crown
Le Bron joined the Laker team
I heard Canada, US and Mexico will host the 2026 World Cup
Or perhaps that was just a dream
The Red Sox won the Series
France took the World Cup prize
The Warriors were NBA champs again
With all that that implies
Djokavic and Osaka won the US Open
Djokavic and Kerber had Wimbledon wins
I’m pretty sure there were some bowling awards
For knocking down some pins
And
What a magnanimous gesture
A dreadful wrong made right
Trump pardoned heavyweight Jack Johnson after 105 years
Phew…now I can sleep tonight
In Passing
Jimmie Holland pioneered depression treatment
For patients who were terminally-ill
Mathilde Krim fought the fight against AIDS
That led to the AZT pill
Lawrence Stager was a biblical archeologist
David Toschi pursued the Zodiac Killer
When the first Space Shuttle flew to space
John Young was at the tiller
Ulrich Wegener led the commando raid in ’77 Munich
He was focused and strong-willed
Ingvar Kamprad founded Ikea
Making stuff no one can pronounce or build
Anna Mae Hays was our first female general
Tatsuro Toyoda was Toyota’s visionary chief
Stansfield Turner was a CIA director
Known for his strong anti-commie belief
Dr. James Melius advocated tirelessly for 911 victims
Paul Bocuse pioneered Nouvelle Cuisine
David Zwick was a tireless crusader
For making water clean
Edgar Ray Killen was a Klansman
Who finally got his due
Thomas Monson was the Mormon Church president
I don’t give a crap, do you?
John Coleman co-founded The Weather Channel
Do they ever get the forecast right?
Gene Sharp was a nonviolent resistance guru
Who urged protestors not to fight
Naomi Parker Fraley was the model for Rosie the Riveter
Charles P. Lazarud founded Toys ‘R’ Us
Les Payne won a Pulitzer for exposing racial injustice
On the front and the back of the bus
Dennis Peron championed medical marijuana
Dr. Arnold Gold believed in human-touch
Dr. T. Berry Brazelton wrote books on Child Psychology
Which helped parents very much
Jon Huntsman, Sr. was a billionaire philanthropist
Asma Jahangir fought for Pakistani civil rights
Anthony Acevedo documented his Holocaust ordeal
Over 400 agonizing days and nights
Richard E. Taylor won the Nobel for discovering quarks
Winnie Mandella fought for South African power
Betty Ann Bowser was one of the very first women
To have her own TV news hour
Billy Graham was an Evangelical icon
And though I may find that dumb
He may not have been the most righteous of men
But he was holier than some
Linda Brown was Brown v. Board of Education
Anne Treisman studied sensory input of the brain
Julie Yip-Williams chronicled her battles
With blindness and cancer pain
Dr. Arthur J. Moss pioneered life-saving protocols
For strokes and heart attacks
Louise Slaughter was a NY Congresswoman for 16 terms
Crazy, but dems da facts
Oskar Gröning was the “Bookkeeper of Auschwitz”
He documented unimaginable madness
In contrast
We remember Johnan van Hulst for saving 600 Jewish children
With gratitude and sadness
John E. Sulston’s Nobel was for finding cell development keys
Nancy McFadden advised Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown
Charles McDew co-founded SNCC
To tear the establishment down
James F. Holland studied childhood leukemia
Karen Dawisha wrote of Putin’s bad deeds
Charlie Russell was the real-life Grizzly Adams
Who lived off of berries, nuts and seeds
Daphne Sheldrick saved orphaned elephants
David Edgerton co-founded Burger King
Zhao Kangmin spent years restoring the Terra Cotta Soldiers
Because restoration was his thing
Barbara Lewalski was the first tenured female at Brown and Harvard
Anne Forer Pyne had a loud feminist voice
When NASA was looking for a fourth man on the Moon
Alan Bean became their choice
Andrew Balducci grew his push-cart business
Into one of NY’s largest novelty stores
Peter Grünberg’s Nobel for smart device research
Opened many home entertainment doors
Wyatt Tee Walker was a strategist
Who gave MLK advice
Alfred Crosby was the father of Environmental History
George Deukmejian was California’s Governor, twice
Mary Regula founded a library for First Ladies
Barbara Bush is in it
Luis Garcia Meza was a Bolivian genocidal dictator
No matter how you spin it
Eugene Leff won $98M in damages
For his Love Canal class action suit
Fred Kovaleski was a tennis pro
And a CIA spy, to boot
Dr. Joel Kovel was an Ecosocialist
Abbas Attar photographed revolution in Iran
Jean Gump was jailed for disabling a missile silo
“Because,” she said, “I can!”
Robert N. Hall invented the microwave oven and the bar code scanner
Dr. Davida Coady was a medical missionary
Richard Goodwin’s speech-writing for Kennedy and Johnson
Was inspirational and visionary
Dick Tuck was a Democratic prankster
Who bedeviled Goldwater and Tricky Dick
Mildred “Mama Dip” Council was a queen of Southern cooking
But all that lard could make you sick
I want to mention again that
Johan von Hulst saved more than 600 Dutch children
From the Nazi’s oven flames
Ted Dabney co-founded Atari and invented Pong
One of the first computer games
Connie Kurtz was a NY gay rights advocate
Mel Weinberg was a grifter in the Abscam sting
Ella Brennan was the Grande Dame of New Orleans cuisine
Cajun cooking was her thing
Jill Ker Conway was a feminist author and Smith College pres
Dorothy Cotton marched by MLK’s side
Maya Jribi fought bravely for Tunisian democracy
I’m sad to say, she died
Murray Fromson reported on Viet Nam and Civil Rights
While championing freedom of the press
Reinhard Hardegen was a Nazi u-boat commander
Who led a fleet to the eastern shores of the US
Richard Valeriani was a veteran NBC news correspondent
Herman Shine survived the Auschwitz slaughter
Gudrun Burwitz was a hateful person
And Himmler’s unapologetic daughter
Kazuo Kashio co-founded Casio computer
Stanley Cavell philosophized at Harvard College
Burton Richter discovered a new building-block-of-the-universe
And won a Nobel for his knowledge
Charles Krauthammer was a conservative commentator
John Pritchard III enforced the law in Manhattan
Alfred Alberts’ years of research
Led to the cholesterol drug, Iovastatin
Barry Mills led the prison gang, The Aryan Brotherhood
Mary Ellis piloted WWII Spitfires
Lincoln Brower was a champion of the Monarch butterfly
Those fabulous, fluttery fliers
Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga exposed internment camps
To be as racist as they were
Alene Duerk was the Navy’s first female Rear Admiral
But was often addressed as sir
Sergio Marchionne combined Fiat and Chrysler
He saved them from demise
Elbert Howard co-founded the Black Panthers
With some other militant guys
Ron Dellums led the Congressional Black Caucus
Dr. Robert Newman pushed Methadone
For years, Sister Maureen Turlish shouted about priest’s sexual abuses
Mostly on her own
Kathy Kriger was “Madame Rick”
At Rick’s Casablanca Cafe
Amber Tatro sued for disabled students rights
And mostly got her way
Michael Sheehan warned about bin Laden
In 1998
Robert Silman restored F. L. Wright’s Falling Water
And saved it from an awful fate
Joël Robuchon was French Chef of the Century
He could really cook good food
Alan Rabinowitz fought for wild cats preservation
Because the alternative was simply rude
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was India’s Prime Minister
Who softened Indian/Pakistani relations
Kofi Annan was Secretary General
Of the United Nations
**Senator John McCain**
Uno was the first beagle to win Best of Show
At that Westminster doggie deal
Sterling Stuckey described Africa’s slavery culture
And helped to make it feel more real
Uri Avnery was an Israeli journalist and peacenik
Mel Elfin oversaw the College Ranking Guide
Pik Botha was South Africa’s last Foreign Minister
Before Apartheid died
Ted Achilles brought education to Afghan girls
Stan Brock brought mobile clinics to those in need
Donald E. Moore more than doubled the size of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden
With plants and sod and seed
Frances Edelstein’s Cafe Edison was the best
Occasionally, they’d sweep the floor
Midtown has a great big hole in it’s heart
The Polish Tea Roomis no more
Jun Burge was a sadistic police commander
Accused of torture back in Chi
William Coors was a racist, sexist
Homophobic beer guy
Charles Kao revolutionized communication fiber optics
Which put millions in his pocket
Betty Grissom won a settlement against NASA
Because Gus burned up in a rocket
C. Payne Lucas founded Africare
David Wolkowsky was Mr. Key West
Albert K. Smiley III was keeper of the Mohonk Mountain House
On a quaint Catskill Mountain crest
Paul G. Allen co-founded Microsoft
It brought him enormous wealth
Earl E. Bakken invented the Pacemaker
Which revolutionized heart health
Freddie Oversteegen was a teenage resistance fighter
Against the Nazi’s Dutch invasion
Dorcas Reilly invented the Green-Bean Casserole
Gag-worthy at any occasion
Leon Lederman won the Nobel
For his sub-atomic views
Ian Kiernan was an Australian sailor and environmentalist
Who was often in the news
Robert Pitofsky promoted consumer protection
As Chairman of the FTC
Ruth Gates fought to preserve coral reefs
Because without them, where would we be?
Raye Montague was a black, woman naval ship designer
Mario Segale developed Super Mario games
Whitey Bulger was shivved in prison
For being a rat and naming names
Joachim Ronneberg was a Dutch commando
Who trashed the Nazi’s nuclear site
Dionisio Lind was the bellringer at St. Martin’s Episcopal church
Morning, noon and night
Zhores Medvedev was a dissident Soviet scientist
Disappeared by Putin’s KGB
Carlene Roberts Lawrence was a pioneering
American Airlines VIP
Ramona Ripston expanded the ACLU’s reach
To include social justice and matters of race
Bernard Glassman was a Zen Master of Engaged Buddhism
With a knowing smile upon his face
Scott Wilson committed murder In Cold Blood
James Duke scoured the globe for indigenous cures
Lady Trumpington was a Bletchley Park code-breaker
Who wore outrageous hats and furs
George H. W. Bush was a somewhat classier act
In what seems like days of yore
When you could still admire the Commander-in-Chief
But…we can’t do that anymore
Selma Engel survived, then reported on the Sobibor death camp
Evelyn Berezin built the first working word processor
Bob Bergland championed farmers and consumers when he was Ag Secretary
Now he has a shamelessly, awful successor
Palden Gyatso languished in Chinese captivity
In support of setting Tibet free
Riccardo Giacconi won a Nobel for shooting x-rays into space
To see what he could see
Rosanell Eaton was a fierce voting rights advocate
Peter Boizot founded Pizza Express
Melvin Dummar claimed Howard Hughes left him millions
But he was delusional, I guess
Eleanor Maccoby was the word on gender development
Lyudmila Alexeyeva was the grandmother of Russian Civil Rights
Audrey Geisel’s husband wrote about Sam, I am
And stayed up rhyming most chilly Swiss nights
David Austin created 200 varieties of roses
Because only red and pink didn’t cut it
Shehu Shagari fought for democracy as Nigeria’s President
Until his generals told him to, “Shut it!”
Nancy Roman was the Mother of the Hubble Telescope
She was NASA’s astronomy chief
Lawrence Roberts helped design the Internet to enlighten mankind
Ooops…oh, my…good grief
•••
Annette Michelson founded the arts journal, October
Thad Mumford wrote for Maude and M*A*S*H
Fred Bass was the proprietor of The Strand bookstores
Where you could only pay with cash
Arthur Mitchell directed Dance Theater of Harlem
Stephen Jeffreys wrote The Libertine
Robert Venturi’s Post-Modern architecture
Is some of the finest ever seen
Perry Miller Adato made biographical films
Of Dylan Thomas, Picasso, O’Keefe,
Edwin Hawkins’ passing was “Not an Oh, Happy Day”
At least, that is my belief
Maura Jacobson was a crossword puzzle constructor
Robert Mann co-founded the Juilliard Quartet
Jerry Van Dyke was about as funny
As anyone could get
Rick Hall was a music producer
In Alabama’s Muscle Shoals
Betty Woodman’s pottery retrospective at the Met
Was one of her bucket list goals
Peggy Cummins starred in cultish B-movies
Gun Crazy was my fave
Carole Hart co-created Free to Be…You and Me
Helping children be hopeful and brave
Ray Thomas was a founding member of The Moody Blues
Karin von Aroldingen danced for Balanchine
Fast Eddie Clarke played guitar for Motörhead
The rock band, not the machine
Denise LaSalle was a soul-singing songwriter
José Molina popularized Flamenco Dance
Hugh Wilson created WKRP in Cincinnati
On purpose, not by chance
France Gall was a French chanteuse
Joe Frank spun strange radio tales
Hubert de Givenchy was an iconic fashion designer
Who racked up mega sales
Alan Blevins was a voice-over artist
Dolores O’Riordan sang The Cranberries’ lead
Peter Mayle wrote A Year in Provence
Which was quite a year, indeed
André Harvey sculpted detailed bronze animals
John Barton was a master of The Bard
Mort Walker said, “Drawing Beetle Bailey for 65 years
Just wasn’t very hard.”
Keorapetse Kgositsile was a poet and activist
Ursula K. Le Guin was a sci-fi queen
Terence Marsh’s art direction for Dr. Zhivago and Oliver
Was some of the best seen on the screen
Dorothy Malone won an Oscar for Written on the Wind
Connie Sawyer acted ‘til 105
For more than fifty years, Vic Damone
Was one of the most incredible singers alive
Robert Pincus-Witten coined the term Post-Minimalism
Haim Gouri was Israel’s National Poet
Aharon Appelfeld wrote of his Holocaust survival
So everyone would know it
Julius Lester chronicled black America
Dennis Edwards was the Temptations’ lead voice
Olivia Cole’s Emmy-winning role in Roots
Was an inspired casting choice
Maurice Peress worked with Bernstein and Ellington
As assistant conductor and such
Hugh Masekela was an anti-apartheid activist and joyful trumpeter
And I liked him, oh so much
Nicanor Parra was a proponent of the Anti-Poet Movement
John Mahoney played Frasier’s dad
Ndugu Chancler was one of the best studio drummers
That we’ve ever had
Marlene VerPlanck sang jazz and jingles
John Gavin was a romantic leading man
Rick McKay spent years and years
As the Broadway documentarian
Stephen Hawking allowed complicated theories
To become the common man’s belief
He had a fascinating theory about everything
But his history was all too brief
Lin Bolen was a trailblazing daytime TV exec
Tom Rapp sang for Pearls Before Swine
Lewis Gilbert directed Alfie and 007 films
And was a long-time favorite of mine
Marty Allen was the wild-eyed half
Of comedy’s Allen & Rossi team
Russ Solomon founded Tower Records
Nini Theilade danced in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Sonia Getchoff was an Abstract Expressionist
Sridevi Kapoor was the first female Bollywood star
Nokie Edwards didn’t record Walk Don’t Run
But he played lots of other Ventures’ guitar
Mickey Jones played drums for Dylan
David Ogden Stiers was Major Winchester in M*A*S*H
Peggy Cooper Cafritz patronized many black artists
By giving them exposure and cash
John Morris was a prolific film composer
The Producers, Blazing Saddles and more
Boyd Jarvis pioneered House Music
So folks could get down on the floor
Try to remember a time
When Harvey Schmidt’s music was not in your head
The Fantasticks has seemed immortal
I can’t believe he’s dead
Nicholas von Hoffman was a provocative left-wing writer
Jan Maxwell trod Broadway’s boards
John Perry Barlow wrote lyrics for the Grateful Dead
But Jerry wrote the chords
Reg E. Cathey acted in House of Cards and The Wire
Shammi’s comedy made Bollywood fun
Barbara Alston was in The Crystals
“Then He Kissed Me”, “Da Doo Run Run”“
Johann Johannsson wrote the music for the The Theory of Everything
Max Desfor photographed the Korean War
Gary Burden designed iconic album covers for The Doors and CSN
And many, many, many, many more
Lerone Bennett, Jr. wrote Before the Mayflower
Lawrence Grossman headed PBS and NBC News
Idrissa Ouedraogo was an African filmmaker
Who never shied away from his views
Nanette Fabray was a Tony and Emmy-winning actress and singer
George S. Kaufman brought filmmaking back to Queens
José Antonio Abreu founded the visionary El Sistema
Because he had the will and the means
Jesús López-Cobos was a lauded conductor
Sir Ken Dodd made the droll Brits laugh
Deborah Carrington had a long and deserved acting career
At only three feet and a half
Sala Kirchner wrote Letters to Sala
About her time in a Nazi camp
Michael Tree co-founded the Guarneri Quartet
Acoustically, without an amp
Craig Mack helped form Bad Boy Records
Kate Wilhelm penned sci-fi prose
If you made a list of extraordinary jazz bassists
Buell Neidlinger would be one of those
Robert Grossman was a caricaturist for National Lampoon
Liam O’Flynn mastered the uilleann pipes
Delores Taylor wrote the Billy Jack films
About a guy with multiple gripes
Mike MacDonald was a Canadian comic
Stéphane Audran starred in Babette’s Feast
Larry Harvey’s inspiration, Burning Man
Was…well, inspiring at the very least
Barbara Wersba tackled taboo subjects
To provide children a clearer view
Russell Freedman wrote 88 history books for kids
About stuff they never knew
Olly Wilson meshed African and Western music
Yvonne Staples sang rhythm and blues
Hazel Smith was a singing, songwriting country music matriarch
Who certainly paid her dues
Anita Shreve wrote The Pilot’s Wife, and Weight of Water
Drue Heinz was a literary patron
Mitzi Shore was the grand dame of The Comedy Store
But no one joked she was the matron
Steven Bochco wrote and produced cop shows
Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue
Janka Nabay reached out from Sierra Leone
To bring the rest of the world bubu
William Prochnau wrote Once Upon a Distant War
Cecil Taylor was a freewheeling jazz cat
Richard Oldenburg directed MoMA
In modern art, that’s where it’s at
Susan Anspach was in Five Easy Pieces
Verne Troyer was Mini-Me
Milos Forman directed One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus
He was as good as a director can be
Isao Takahata was an innovative animator
J. D. McClatchy followed a poetic muse
John Ehle humanized Appalachian life
For those who never walked in Appalachian shoes
Chuck McCann made zany TV ads
Carl Kassel, Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!
Jean McFaddin was the Grand Dame of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Just what are they trying to sell me?
Jean Marzollo wrote children’s I Spy books
R. Lee Ermey was the whacked out drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket
Gertrude Jeannette was an actor/director
And the first woman NYC cabbie to hack it
Harry Anderson was a magician and the star of Night Court
Sam Hamill founded the Canyon Press
Polixeni Papapetrou took eerie and whimsical photos
Like Giuliani in a party dress
Ronal Dunbar wrote Give Me Just a Little More Time and Band of Gold
Jabo Starks beat the drums for James Brown
Bob Dorough wrote I’m Hip and the songs for Schoolhouse Rock
And was loved all over town
Kirk Simon made Oscar-winning documentaries
Thom DeVita inked NYC tattoos
Marcia Hafif was a monochromaticist
Painting only greens or whites or blues
Charles Neville was the Neville Brothers’ sax man
Art Shay photographed for Life and Time
Gayle Shepherd sang with the Shepherd Sisters in the 1950’s
While they were in their prime
Art Paul designed the Playboy rabbit-head logo
Margot Kidder played Lois Lane
Ninalee Allen Craig modeled for Ruth Orkin’s photo, “American Girl in Italy”
That drove countless young boys insane
Joann Konner was the dean of Columbia School of Journalism
Michael Anderson directed Logan’s Run and Around the World in 80 Days
Peter Mayer published The Satanic Verses
Which caused a stir in so many ways
Nelson Pereira was a paragon of Brazilian cinema
Judith & Gerson Leiber died mere hours apart
Anne V. Coates won an Oscar for editing Lawrence of Arabia
She made cutting film fine art
Wanda Wilkomirska was a beloved Polish violinist
Matt Marks was a founding member of Alarm Will Sound
Anthony Bourdain took off to Parts Unknown
And was one of the coolest dudes around
Tom Wolfe…there are no more words
That he didn’t simply use better
Phillip Roth…ditto
I was upset…now I’m upsetter
Brooks Kerr was a piano prodigy and Ellington expert
Robert Indiana painted “LOVE”
Harold Guskin was a sought-after acting coach
For giving his students a needed shove
Tom Murphy was a fine Irish playwright
Richard Peck wrote kids’ moralistic lit
Leah Napolin thought Yentl belonged on the Broadway stage
So, she adapted it
Glenn Snoddy accidentally invented the Fuzz Tone
Reggie Lucas played guitar for Madonna and Miles
Jerry Maren was the President of the Lollipop Guild
With precise yet diminutive wiles
Patricia Morison starred in Kiss Me Kate and The King and I
She died at one hundred-three
Ira Berlin was a groundbreaking historian
Who tackled slavery
Joseph Campanella acted on Mannix and The Practice
He was a regular on Mary Tyler Moore
David Douglas Duncan took pictures of Pablo Picasso
And the Second World War
Clarence Fountain led the Blind Boys of Alabama
Bill Gold created posters for Casablanca, The Exorcist and A Clockwork Orange
Clint Walker was Cheyenne and one of The Dirty Dozen
(this line doesn’t matter since nothing rhymes with orange)
Russ Regan was a music producer
Michael Goldstein published The Soho Weekly News
Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater was a guitarist
That epitomized Chicago blues
Josh Greenfeld chronicled his son’s autism in A Child Called Noah
Kate Spade was a fashion design force
Robert Mandan was hilarious on Soap
He’s less funny now, of course
Jerry Hopkins wrote Jim Morrison’s bio
Danny Kirwan was the original guitaristin Fleetwood Mack
Lorraine Gordon commanded the Village Vanguard
From her table, in the back
Claus Denison was a masterful arranger
William Reese sold rare books for big dough
Eunice Gayson was a Bondgirl
In the first one, Dr. No
Nick Meglin worked at Mad Magazine
D. J. Fontana drummed in Elvis’s first band
Dan Ingram was a pioneering shock jock
Whose broadcasts often got out of hand
Jalal Mansur Nuriddin was one of the Last Poets
Some say, the Grandfather of Rap
Martin Bergman worked on Scarface and Serpico
With both his agent and producer’s cap
Stephen Reid was a notorious gentleman-bank-robber
As a member of the Stopwatch Gang
Rebecca Parris was Boston’s First Lady of Jazz
That lady sure could sang
Clemens Kalischer photographed immigrants arriving from war-torn Europe
Gillian Lynne choreographed Cats
Henry Butler was a legendary New Orleans piano man
Who often played in spats
Matt Murphy played blues guitar
David Goldblatt photographed apartheid horror
Frances Walker-Slocum was a pioneering pianist and teacher
And students were constantly clamoring for her
Joe Jackson sired and managed The Jacksons
Daisy Kadibil inspired Rabbit-Proof Fence
Harlan Ellison never intended to write science fiction
Which literally doesn’t make sense
Paul Pines was a jazz impresario and poet
Bill Watrous killed on the slide trombone
Alan Longmuir was a founding member of the Bay City Rollers
Until he went off on his own
Claude Lanzmann wrote the Holocaust film, Shoah
Eugene Pitt was lead singer of the Jive Five
Tab Hunter was a Hollywood heartthrob
At least, when he was alive
Derrick O’Connor played bad guys from Ireland
Robby Müller created innovative dances
Steve Ditko helped draw the original Spider-Man
But it was one of his few super heroic chances
Oliver Knussen wrote the score for Where the Wild Things Are
Nancy Barbato Sinatra was Frank’s first spouse
Bill Loud was the father on An American Family
In the first reality TV house
Bradford Smith led the NASA photography team
When the Voyager flew through space
Jonathan Gold criticized all kinds of LA food
With a hungry smile upon his face
Alan Johnson choreographed Springtime for Hitler
For the movie not the stage
Shinobu Hashimoto’s scripts for Rashomon, Ikiru and Seven Samurai
Were written in Japanese on a page
Les Lieber hosted NYC’s Jazz at Noon
Douglas Grindstaff designed Star Trek’s sound
Charlotte Rae was hilarious on The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes
But now she’s not around
Gary Beach won a Tony as Roger De Bris
When the The Producers opened their show
Stephen Saban chronicled New York Night Life
So New York night-lifers knew where to go
Adrian Cronauer was the Good Morning, Vietnam DJ
Mel Rosen was a Crossword constructor
Pat Williams was a brilliant composer/arranger
And a helluva big band conductor
Anne Olivier Belle edited the Virginia Woolf Diaries
Franz Beyer revised Mozart’s Requiem, but why?
Moshe Mizrahi won the Oscar for Madame Rosa
As a woman and a guy
Christine Nöstlinger wrote children’s books on social justice
Miriam Nelson taught movie stars to dance
If I tried to tame wild animals like Doris Arndt
I would have to change my pants
Judith Applebaum wrote How to Get Happily Published
Pat de Groot painted seascapes without shoes
Morgana King sang jazz and played Mama Corleone
Have you heard the sad, sad news?
Aretha passed away
We’ve lost the Queen of Soul
And the place in our hearts where she touched us
Is now an empty hole
Charles Hamlen was a big time Hollywood agent
He quit to combat AIDS
V. S. Naipaul wrote passionately against colonialism
And received Nobelaccolades
Betty Miles wrote children’s books on sexism
Craig Zadan co-produced the Oscarshow
Tomasz Stanko was Poland’s leading jazz trumpeter
That most non-Poles didn’t know
Glen Roven was a socially-mined composer/conductor
Queeneth Ndaba was apartheid’s jazz voice
Burt Britton was The Strand bookstore’s “avid reader”
Literally, by choice
John Calder was Britain’s anti-censorship publisher
For Beckett and Henry Miller
Barbara Harris never disappointed on the stage or screen
She was, in every positive way, a killer
Brian Murray was an acclaimed B’way actor
Vivian Matalon directed Tony-winning plays
Ed King played guitar for Strawberry Alarm Clock
And Lynyrd Skynyrd in their early days
Robin Leach showed us the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Paul Taylor was a master of dance
Lazy Lester became a swamp blues harmonica legend
Just by happenstance
Tom Clark was a poet and Jack Kerouac biographer
Ellie Mannette, “father” of the modern steel drum
Jack Costanzo was in the Lawrence Welk band
And known as Mr. Bongoto some
Neil Simon was just plain funny
He wrote for Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows
If you Google a list of great playwrights
He’d be near the top of those
George Walker was a pianist/composer
Ward Hall owned the World of Wonder sideshow
Krishna Reddy was a master printmaker
Whose name you probably didn’t know
Lindsay Kemp inspired David Bowie’s flamboyance
John Wilcock pioneered the underground press
Marie Severin drew The Hulk, Dr. Strange and Spider Man
I never read them, I confess
Randy Weston’s jazz piano showed his African roots
Andre Blay transferred movies to tape
Bill Daly’s acting career peaked on I Dream of Jeannie
From which there was no escape
Peter Frame was a ballet dancer and teacher
Erich Lessing photographed the effects of WWII
Will Jordan was an impressionist best known for mimicking Ed Sullivan
On Mr. Sullivan’s very big shoo
Amanda Williams wrote the Key Street crime novel series
Overcoming dyslexia to do it
Marty Balin was a founding member of The Jefferson Airplane
And everybody knew it
Carole Shelley was an Odd Couple Pigeon sister
On the stage, TV and screen
Marin Mazzie was one of Broadway’s brightest stars
I’m heartbroken she’s left the scene
Gloria Jean was the child star
In Never Give a Sucker and Even Break
Gary Kurtz produced Star Wars
The biggest movie he’d ever make
Burt Reynolds was a real life movie star
Once, the Sexiest Man Alive
He’ll probably be best known for the Smokey and the Bandit films
Although he never really knew how to drive
Wakako Yamauchi penned plays of her internment
Nancy Blomberg championed Native American art
Peter Donat had countless roles on the stage, screen and TV
And excelled in every part
Tito Capobianco directed opera in Pittsburg and NY
Ira Sabin founded Jazz Times Magazine
Henry Wessel focused his lens on California
Some of the most beautiful photographs ever seen
Big Jay McNeely was R&B’s King of the Honkers
Alan Abel played infamous practical jokes
Joe Masteroff wrote the books for Cabaret and She Loves Me
Which delighted most musical theater folks
Katherine Hoover composed Kokopeli
Otis Rush was a king of Chicago blues
Madeleine Yayodele founded the Women of the Calabash
Who played percussion in tennis shoes
Singer/songwriter/humanitarian
A man who lived each minute
It’s truly sad to picture a world
Without Charles Aznavour in it
Geoff Emerick was the guy
That every audio nerd aspired to
He was no doubt the fifth Beatle
He was cool and so admired too
Peggy Sue Gerron Rackham was Buddy Holly’s Peggy Sue
Montserrat Caballé was a revered Spanish Prima Donna
Vladimir Radunsky brilliantly illustrated children’s books
The characters, the flora and fauna
Sydney Goldstein founded City Arts & Lectures
Ray Galton created Britain’s Steptoe and Son
Tony Joe White was a ‘Swamp Rock’ singer/songwriter
Who wrote Polk Salad Annie for fun
Angela Maria was a unique Brazilian singer
Richard Kaplan filmed biographical docs
Mel Ramos painted super heroes and female nudes
Without their shoes and socks
Hamiet Bluiett played bari in the World Saxophone Quartet
Will Vinton gave the California Raisins fame
If you search poet/humorist and “interested observer”
You’ll get Tony Hoagland’s name
Audrey Wells wrote and directed The Hate U Give
And Under the Tuscan Sun
Danny Leiner directed Dude, Where’s My Car? and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
Before his directing days were done
Carol Hall composed Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Freddie Hart wrote country fare
Ntozake Shange wrote For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf
Then, sadly, she wasn’t there
Takehisa Kosugi composed music for Merce Cunningham dances
Kitty O’Neil performed Wonder Woman’s tricks
Melvin “Wah Wah Watson” Ragin laid down the funkiest grooves
With a pedal, a guitar and some picks
Sonny Fortune was an alto jazz master
Hardy Fox led The Residents band
Jean Mohr photographed the aftermath of tragedy
To pull our heads out of the sand
Bernard Bragg helped found the National Theater for the Deaf
Douglas Rain was the voice of Hal
Raymond Chow helped propel Bruce Lee to fame
And Jackie Chan as well
Katherine MacGregor was the mean mother on Little House on the Prairie
Fernando del Paso’s novels were vast and intense
Pablo Ferro designed eye-popping movie credits
For Dr. Strangelove and Stop Making Sense
Francis Lai composed the theme to Love Story
A Man and A Womantoo
Roy Hargrove won’t be playing trumpet any more
Which makes me kinda blue
Stan Lee was a comic Marvel
He created and acted and drew
Super heroes with powers to do miraculous shit
Unlike me and you
William Goldman was an Oscar-winning screenwriter
Chaplin, Marathon Man, The Princess Bride
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men
He wrote them, then, crap, he died
Roy Clark was a great, great guitar player
He hosted the Hee Haw show
Bill Hicks was a bluegrass fiddling legend
With The Red Clay Ramblers, don’t you know?
Dennis Wrong was the last of the New York Intellectuals
They were jocular and clever
Jerry Ohlinger owned Manhattan’s Movie Material Store
Perhaps the largest collection of movie memorabilia…ever
H. Peter Stern co-founded Storm King Art Center
To display outdoor art
Jane Maas oversaw the I Love NY campaign
And helped give advertising women a start
Jerry Frankel won 9 Tonys
Producing Spring Awakening, August: Osage County, Come From Away
If you chanted “Master Magician, accomplished actor, comedian”
You would conjure up Ricky Jay
Blanche Burton-Lyles oversaw her mentor’s National Marian Anderson Museum
Lucho Gatica was the Latin American Bolero King
Nicolas Roeg directed The Man Wo Fell to Earth and Don’t Look Now
Avant garde films were his thing
Janet Paisley wrote poems and plays
About her experience with spousal abuse
Wolfgang Zuckerman designed a do-it-yourself harpsichord kit
To set folks’ musical baroque freak loose
Robert Plotnik went by “Bleecker Bob”
He had a way cool Village record store
Stephen Hillenburg created Sponge Bob Square Pants
Who lived in Bikini Bottom on an unknown sea floor
Bernardo Bertolucci directed The Last Emperor and Last Tango in Paris
Cyril Pahinui played slack-key guitar
Robert Rainwater was an NYC librarian
And its most influential art curator, by far
Gloria Katz co-wrote American Grafftii, Indiana Jones…maybe Star Wars?
Philip Bosco was always great
Ken Berry led the men of F Troop
A troop that never, ever shot straight
Sy Kattelson photographed nuanced NYC street life
Charles Harrison reshaped the View-master
Sondra Locke was a terrific actress
But her tabloid Clint-romance was a disaster
Andhra Pradesh Karre Mastanamma lived to 107
As a celebrity Indian chef
Pete Shelley led the Buzzcocks
Whose big sound virtually made him deaf
Amanda Swimmer fought to preserve Cherokee culture
She also threw beautiful pots
Alvin Epstein was an accomplished actor/director
Who specialized in connecting Beckett’s dots
Nancy Wilson’s voice was magic
She could sing into your heart
Telling stories through jazz music
Was her unique approach to art
Irwin Hollander was a masterful lithographer
That every modern artist knew
Joe Osborn laid down bass lines
For the fabled Wrecking Crew
Penny Marshall was Laverne
Or Shirley,,,I don’t know
But she was talented and a hoot
And I’m sad to see her go
John Forn Noonan wrote A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking
David Shepherd nurtured improv theater
Shan Goshorn was a Cherokee human rights activist and artist
And I was privileged, once, to meet her
Jerry Chestnut wrote blue collar country hits
Raven Wilkinson was a sleek ballet dancer
When asked, “Who could play the President in A Clear and Present Danger?”
Donald Moffat was the answer
Charles Weldon was an artistic director
The Negro Ensemble Companywas his muse
Peter Masterson created Best Little Whorehouse…and directed The Trip to Bountiful
Which I recorded in my film-scoring shoes
Galt McDermot composed the soundtrack
At the core of a generational soul
Hair sang to the hippies and the straight folks alike
And filled an ideologically bottomless hole
Sono Osato was a ballerina and Broadway dancer
Amos Oz was a peace and literary force
Norman Gimbel wrote Killing Me Softly
About Don McLean’s lyrics, of course
Larry Eisenberg wrote 13,000 rhymes
As comments in the NY Times
He never held back
From his limerical tack
And he was paid in nickels and dimes
June Whitfield had a storied career
On the British telly and stage
But her roll as Mother on Ab Fab
Was internationally, all the rage
Ralph Koltai’s theater and opera sets
Were of an innovative and abstract design
Liza Redfield conducted The Music Man in 1960
Breaking Broadway’s gender line
•••
LeRoy Jolley trained two Derby winners
Carmen Cozza coached football at Yale
Dan Gurney won auto races in all four categories
And lived to tell the tale
Cy Young was the only American
To win Olympic javelin gold
When Doug “God” Harvey was the umpire
Players did what they were told
Keith Jackson was the voice of college football
“Whoa, Nellie!” was his shtick
Wally Moon was a home run-hitting Dodger
Whose bat often did the trick
Warren Miller was first a ski bum
Then the ultimate ski movie king
Jo Jo White was a Celtic
Shooting was his thing
Don Carter brought the Mavericks to Dallas
Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile
Paul Magriel was the best Backgammon player in the world
Which somehow makes me smile
Ken Flach won six grand slam doubles titles
Wally Triplett was the first black player in an NFL game
Who was the youngest to play in the American League?
Carl Scheib was the young boy’s name
Tom Benson owned the Pelicans and Saints
Eric Bristow was a superstar of darts
H. Wayne Huizenga owned Blockbuster the Marlins, Dolphins and Panthers
Proving the sum is greater than the parts
Mel Rosen coached the ’92 Olympics track team
Hal Greer was a 76ers Hall of Famer
Doug Ford was the oldest Masters champ
Charlotte Fox was a mountain tamer
Rusty Staub won a pennant with the Mets
Bob Beatie wore Olympic skis
The worldwide ambassador of Taekwondowas John Rhee
Everyone agrees
Daedra Charles was an Olympian and Lady Vols star
Diane Leather ran the first women’s sub five-minute mile
Rob Matthews was a Paralympic runner
Who broke records in sightless style
Sachio Kinugasa was Japan baseball’s Iron Man
Billy Connors was a Yankee pitching guru
Someone threatened to kill Hubert Green when he won the ‘77 US Open
I don’t know why, do you?
Carol Mann was a golf star and the LPGA pres
Maria Bueno challenged Wimbledon’s all-white dress code
David Pearson was an inductee to the NASCAR Hall-of-Fame
Because of some fast cars that he rode
Dwight Clark made “The Catch”
That defeated the Cowboys in ‘82
Mari Hulman George announced, “Gentlemen, start your engines!”
So Indy drivers knew what to do
Anne Donovan won Olympic Gold and a WNBA title
Willie McCovey swung a big Giants’ bat
Johnny Kline was a Globetrotter who helped addicted ex-players
As a drug-counseling advocate
Lindy Remigino took unexpected Olympic Gold
For her ‘52 100m run
Paul Sherwen was the voice of the Tour de France
So we could tell which biker won
Marcia Chambers exposed discrimination at golf clubs
Against women and blacks alike
Jim Taylor was a 60’s All-Decade fullback for the Packers
Who excelled right from the hike
Bruce Lietzke was a laid back multiple PGA winner
Joan Steinbrenner once owned the Yankee crew
Lee Leonard was the original host of ESPN
When it was all still brand new
Willie Nauls was a NY Knicks all-star
He was awesome on the floor
Tex Winter was the father of the Triangle Offense
But he won’t be coaching any more
•••
Jeff Townsend was my pal
We had a lot of fun
He was the guy you could always count on
If you had to get anything done
•••
 |
Here’s the latest jOel cover
Yes, O and I are still a thing
But, I’m married now and Steadman’s not going away
So, we’ll see what the new year may bring
•••
In conclusion
Like the relief of waking from a dream
Where you’ve been relentlessly chased or tormented
And escaping doesn’t seem
Possible
Clear your head a moment
Let’s take a cleansing breath
And hold onto the resilience
That let us dodge democracy’s death
In spite of evilness afoot
Oh sure, we’re not quite out of the woods
But maybe, just perhaps there’s an off chance
That if Mueller’s got the goods
We may just put Humpty back together
With some lessons newly learned
That we’re all more alike than different
And some leaves are better left unturned
Kindness is the key
Toward one another and the Earth
There is no rational economy
Where there is any worth
In cruelty or greed
We only get one chance
To leave things better than we found them
As we dance this mortal dance
It’s not rocket science or funky math
Or shop class with power tools
Being human doesn’t have to be a voyage
On the chaotic Ship o’ Fools
I’m going to hold that thought
But I should take this opportunity to mention
That if we don’t get our shit together fast
There’s only alien intervention
To save our asses
And that would take some aliens who care
And frankly, I’ve been staring off in space
And haven’t seen anything out there
Flying to our rescue
So, the future’s in our hands
Let’s do this thing, together!
No ifs…or buts…or ands
…
Because I lost the memo
With the list of what size socks you wear
I’ve opted again to make a loving gift in your names
To show how much I care
Project Angel Food