ISSUES

 

I know that there are issues

            that get lots of folks annoyed,

And we tend to think those topics

            are the ones we must avoid.

 

The people whom we love

            might not always be disposed

To support the things we favor

            and oppose what we oppose.

 

I’d like to think relationships

            are strong enough to weather

All the stress of disagreement

            when good people get together.

 

We surely would be better off

            in ways that we relate,

To spend more time discussing them

            and less time in debate.

 

                   *     *     * 

 

IF YOU CAN FIND A WAY

 

If you can find a way to make the tax code fair

And see that all the One Percenters pay their share;

 

If you reduce the deficit and never break the rules

But also fund the libraries and parks and public schools;

 

If you can make the corporations stand aside

And leave it up to human beings to decide;

 

If you can reapportion all the district lines today

And not let gerrymandering get in the way;

 

If you can write a health care plan we can afford

That brings the rich and poor and sick and lame aboard;

 

If you can catch the bankers by surprise

Before they give out bonuses to all their favorite guys;

 

If you can stop the globe from warming at its present pace

And somehow manage to preserve the human race;

 

You would surely have a plan of great renown,

But probably the Senate and the House would vote it down.

 

                              *     *     *

 

MONOPOLY

 

You probably got weary from the economic theory

            that you studied all the years you went to school.

But I’ll bet you learned it properly on the day you played Monopoly

            and found out from your friends that winners rule.

 

It starts with a statistic that is really unrealistic—

            every player has the same amount of dough.

It seems that this endeavor would extend the game forever

            but it depends upon the dice you have to throw.

 

A player’s fortune always swells by buying Boardwalk with hotels,

            and when you land on it your property is lost.

While your character is strong and there is nothing you’ve done wrong,

            the result is that you have to pay the cost.

 

In the real world you might say that this is how you have to play;

            the opportunity is there when all is known.

The winners always know that they will soon be passing GO,

            and the losers have to mortgage all they own.

 

In the end someone acquires all the money he desires

             and is wallowing in wealth and fields of clover.

You might think it’s just a  game, but still it happens all the same,

            and when it does, well then we know the game is over.

 

*     *     * 

 

 

THE ROAD THAT’S BETTER LEFT UNTAKEN

(With a nod to Robert Frost)

 

Two roads diverge in a yellow wood

I’ll not take the one that goes to the right.

It’s hard to know why anybody would

Or even how a caring person could,

But still I know that many people might.

 

I’ll take the other one because it is more fair

And has perhaps the simple quality of being sane.

It leads to opportunity that all of us can share

Protecting the environment and even Medicare.

It builds a world that’s possible to sustain.

 

Both are on the ballot even now;

The rich will choose the one that leads to greater gain

And let some profits trickle down somehow.

Perhaps it does improve the numbers on the Dow,

But still the middle class will feel the pain.

 

I shall be reading this when all the votes are cast

Hoping the electorate will find the way.

The road we take will help us shake the awful past

And get us going properly at last.

Our choice is what will make the difference that day.