JOBS, JOBS, JOBS

I sing the lives of working men

And working women too
A song of celebration for
The many things they do

The steel, the saw

The plow, the plane
The pencil and the chalk
The resolute commuter
And the lucky few who walk
 

The drill, the wrench

The brush, the broom
The ruler and the rake
The fairly few who conjure
And the many hands that make

The brew, the bread

The rock, the brick
The mortar and the mix

The powerful who fashion

And the delicate who fix

The shovel and the hammer
The keyboard and the mouse
And even those who labor
In the Senate and the House

I sing them all

A chorus hall
In harmony and unity
May God grant each

And every one

A little opportunity

Long Range Forecast

Gather round and lend an ear

While I explain the reason

Everything you’ve seen so far

Hasmerely been pre-season

 

If you believed campaigning

Has been rough through certain patches

From here until November

Better batten down the hatches

 

The ocean level’s rising

And the water table’s warming

So something prime and powerful

Is clearly out there forming

 

The man and the machinery

Are just about converging

Telling me tomorrow that

A wave will soon be surging

 

Despite the demographics

That the pollsters are pursuing

Over the horizon, folks

A hurricane is brewing

 

A righteous revolution

That no force on earth can damper

The Republican Convention

Is about to start in Tampa

 

I’ve never been too clever

Either fiscally or stock wise

But I know the tide is turning

And it’s moving counter-clockwise

 

Well, I may be too hopeful

Or I just may be mistaken

But I see a few surprises

When the final vote is taken

 

For in every five-day forecast

Slings and arrows are the norm

Whatever comes this weekend’s

Just the calm before the storm.

Tarzan (not me) turns 100

I’m just an average Joe

A simple, good hard-working guy

I run the daily rat race

In a pin-striped suit and tie

But like so many dreamers

From Poughkeepsie to Des Moines

I’m swinging through the jungle

With a cloth around my loins

I speak the jungle language

With its roars and growls and yelps

I’m twice as fast as Usain Bolt

And swim past Michael Phelps

My eyes can pierce the darkness

My muscles?  Iron bands.

I fight the mighty lion

With just my two bare hands

I fear no fellow creature

While I howl at the moon

The chimps I know are loyal

And the Janes around me swoon

My life’s an epic story

With adventures and escapes

Thanks to Edgar Burroughs

I am Tarzan of the Apes

It’s for this fellow’s birthday

That this ode I have been singing

Here’s to the Earl of Greystoke

And 100 years of swinging

I fear sometimes we’ve lost those

Creature instincts that might guide us

But deep in all our spirits

Part of Tarzan is inside us

He’s fierce and strong and noble

Kind and just and wild and pure

Let’s hope what’s best in him

In us, continues to endure