UN Conventional Wisdom

As Richard Nixon said one night
You win the party on the right
And then he said, with no dissenter
You win the nation at the center

So strategists, for decade stretches
Inscribed that on their Etch-a-Sketches
And Nixon’s dictum was respected
When all the data was collected
Through all the slogans, sung or shouted
His strategy was never doubted

How can I say, without attack words
This year I think it’s all basackwards
The leader, if you get my gist
Is happy as a centrist
The challengers I’m certain seem
Just a little more extreme

But to succeed election night
You can’t just be Obama light
The nominee must pivot right

The pendulum has started swinging
And when Brunhilda’s finished singing
The country which seemed so divided
Will show which side with which they’ve sided

So, in your Book of Wisdom, enter
That side is surely not…the center

We will Not Comply

I’ve railed at least a dozen times
And written more than several rhymes
Assailing them as frauds and fools
Those bureaucrats and all their rules

Who think they can improve the nation
By writing one more regulation
Limiting our right to choose
The kind of light bulb we can use
The colors we can paint our cars
The wood we use in our guitars

I’ve watched them work and hoped that each
Would show, at last, their overreach
The moment we could all anoint
That took us past the tipping point
Beyond the self-appointed czars
And subsidized electric cars

The flaw that made the mirror crack
The last straw on the camel’s back

Despite the way their flacks have spun it
I think at last they’ve gone and done it
For thanks to some new regulation
On farms across our noble nation
Because of what the Feds have done
A father cannot teach his son

Or else he’s subject to the powers
That set the rules for wage and hours

Now, this would have been quite a blow
To Ben and Hoss and Little Joe
I’m sure they would have shown defiance
By demonstrating non-compliance

So this must be our battle cry
A motto voiced by You and I
A star to set our conscience by…
We will not comply !

Getting there from Here

I think they lay awake at nights
Working on inventing rights
And after all the work is done
They’ve come up with another one

They have to ‘cause the times are tough
The Bill of Rights is not enough
10 Amendments ? Hardly any
10 Commandments? 10 Too Many

For when a choice is called a right
There is no field on which to fight
No power to whom we can turn
We’re only heretics to burn

But if we all agree to play
We dodge the wrath for one more day
And coldly slip into our place
Like Pluto on the edge of space
A dimming spec amid the void
Inconsequential planetoid

There’s one way friend, and only one
To find your way back towards the sun
One way you can defeat the night
The way
The truth
The light

Prayers for Chardon

I’ve walked the streets of Chardon
And bought maple sugar candy
From a girl behind the counter
Who went to that High School
Like her sister did
Like her mother did

I bought hardware
At a hardware store there
And the stranger behind the counter says,
“You’re married to Jean’s daughter, aren’t you?’

I went to the DMV there
For my mother-in-law
And I was done in ten minutes

I played miniature golf
At a sweet course 3 blocks from The Square
Where they hold tournaments
And sell Slim Jims and ice cream cones at the counter

Littleton is a name
Chardon is a place I’ve been
I’m sorry Littleton
I prayed for you
But not as hard as I should have done
As I do
For Chardon

Oh Lord, it is a shock
When 9/11 happens on your block.

Andrew

Well, he was no summer soldier
Where he fought was hard and cold
His manner? …less than gentle
His words were always bold

Andrew was a leader
And we happily played the chorus
When something needed saying
We let Andrew say it for us

Well, the contest isn’t over
And the system still is broken
So in honor of his mem’ry
We all need to be outspoken

When the moment calls you
Never turn your back and run
Gladly face the challenge
It’s what Andrew would have done

For he was no summer soldier
And the battles never cease
With the others who defend us
Let us pray he rests in peace.