The Rabbit Done Died, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter).

Pregnant on

Your ignorance

You still insist

On going to church

Fuck you

And your selfishness

'Stay at home"

Isn't punishment

THE NBA,

MLB

Japan Olympics

All rightfully delayed

It isn't persecution

To be responsible

Nobody is out

To oppress you

But if you insist

On foolish pride

Falsely claim "victim"

Keep this in mind

You can touch

In sardine groups

Pick up and carry

The virus to others

That means 

Your own family

Your elderly parent

Your own community

This isn't like drinking

It isn't like smoking

You can spread it to others

And not even know it

This virus cares not

Of whom it kills

It cares not of Wall Street

If the market crashes or soars

It cares not

Of Temples or Mosques

Of Churches 

Or Synagogues 

Our best bet 

As a species

For right now

is to stay in place

To stay in place

Fund testing and PPEs

And fund globally

A goal of a vaccine. 

 Cat Tails, By Brisn37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter.)

Listen you little goofy guy

Paws inverted under your  chin

Don't look up at me

And do me in

I know your game

I it is always the same

Look up and purr or pout

And do me in

I know the wag

Of your  tail

It wiggles 

To and fro

All to let me know

There is something

That you want

Food or affection is your goal

You stare me in the eye

No matter if

I am in bed

Or in the kitchen making morning coffee

I cant stand 

Your vigilence 

Your persistent 

Surveillance 

Who am I kidding?

You are my best friend

My feline police 

You keep me in line. 

 You Are Not Anne Frank, by Brian27 (AKA Brian James Raitonal Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter0

You are not Anne Frank

Living in an attic 

Wondering when the Nazis

Are going to, of you, extract

Having to constantly

Duck and dodge

Live in silence 

For days, months and years

You are not 

John McCain

Captured by the enemy

Tortured and in pain

You are not

George Takei

Forced into an internment camp

Wondering why?

Nobody wants

COVID 19

To suggest liberals want it

Is fucking insane

It isn't a conspiracy

That seatbelts exist

It isn't oppresion 

That airbags presist

So you better go back to your bars

Your movie theaters, your gyms

Your beaches, your petri dishes

Over selfish narcissism

Who gives a fuck

If you kill your own kin

Freedom is only when

You get what you want.

One night in Wall Street

And the world's their oyster

The rich convince you 

That they're your savior.

Haunting Protocol, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB, and @brianrrs37 on twitter)

The doors suddenly shut

As if in unison 

The ghosts 

Remind you the reaper is there.

You're standing at 

The end of the haliway 

It seems so short

But suddenly expands

You run faster and faster

But the haliway

Keeps getting longer 

And longer

What are you running away from

The realization this is no movie

But being witness to

Human mortaility.

And it is all in erie silence

And slow motion

And you cant snap out

Of this nightmare 

You are outside yourself

Desperately hoping

None of this 

Is real

But it is

The reaper's 

Macabre parade 

Another life has ended.

But this time the reaper

Came for my loved one

And there was nothing

I could do.

(end)

This poem is about my experience spending time in a nursing home.  My late mother spent time in the physical thearapy wing for prior operations. Then after her last operation they ended up moving her to long term care when the physical thearapy wasn't getting back her physical strength. They have this protocol as to not upset other tenents or visitors, that when someone dies, they take everyone back to their rooms they shut all the doors and turn off the "music" and it gets hauntingly silent. And things don't return to normal until the body has been taken out of the building on its way to the funeral home.  I had witness this a few times with others. And that was disturbing. But when my mom died, and they did the same thing, it hits home and crushes you emotionally. 

I cant begin to know what it is like for a nurse or doctor who works at one of those places long term. I was severly depressed for months after. But just a week or so ago, I heard about a poor lady doctor on the news who comitted suicide because of this pandemic and all the death she was seing on a daily basis.

But there is some good in this. I can say if it were not for the staff helping both of us get through this, and my friends who worked there I wouldn't have been able to cope. We owe nurses and doctors and physical thearapists our deepest gratitude, even when life gets to the point where they tell you they cant do anything more. They are not just nurses and doctors and thearapists. They are cheerleaders, hoping you get better, and consolers in your darkest hour. They help you face your mortality and comfort you the best they can. They are always thrilled to send someone home, and when they do, they always hope they don't see you again in that context. They are always there for loved ones and are willing to give you an ear when you are scared. 

 Self Entitlement, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter)

Nader went after

The auto industry

Long ago

In the 1970s

They all threw fits

Making the bullshit argument

That to improve safety

Would cost too much money

Big tobacco 

Used cartoon camels

Images of cowboys

To sell their products

Humans have been warned

For over a century

Burning fossil fuels

Will cause long term missery

And once again

On Memorial Day Weekend

Pool parties and packed beaches

Lead to our distruction

"Rights" and "Freedom"

Are not a free for all

Doesn't constitute anarchy

To do whatever you want

Nobody would go

To have surgury

From a person

With no degree

Nobody sane

Would get on a jet

If the pilot

Had no experience

It is responsible

To listen to science

To fasten your seatbelt

During turbulance

If you don't wear a mask

You are an ass

If you ignore distance

More end up in caskets

It isn't about party

It isn't about state

It is about safety

To keep everyone safe

You can get fined

If you you get pulled over

Your baby not in a car seat

You deserve it

You can drive

You can drink

But you can't mix the two

Stop and think

You have no right

To assault a cashier

If they insist 

Of a mask you wear

Keep your distance

Stay at home

Go out only when you have to

Helps everyone. 

 Black Floyd, by Brian37 (AKA Brian37 on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter)

We don't need

No education

We don't need

No white control

No dark joggers

In the public

HEY, WHITE PEOPLE

Leave your ignorance at home

All in all

You're just 

Dipshits in the wall

How can you 

Have any pudding

If you dont' promote 

Your race

YES YES

Hitler is the best!

Forget the ringtone

At the end of the song.

 Why Miracles Should Die, (By Brian37 Aka Brain James Rational Poet and @brianrrs37 on twitter)

Oh I am sure

Quite confident 

That those who read the title

Are all incensend 

Please  falsly  accuse me

Of devalueing life

Chalk it all up to

My lot in life

The rock  all live on

Is older than life

It does not care

How many will die

It does not care

If a religion wins

It does not care

If  an authortarian wins

It does not care

If freedom wins

I does not care 

If our species survives 

It is up to humans

To survive

To corporate 

Without division 

 A Tale Of Two Georges, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter0

One man played Rambo

Killed an innocent

Kid

Over Skiltels

Another simply

Tried to survive

But $20 dollars

Was worth his death?

Gardian Angels

An 80s motif

Smacks of Dirty Harry

Law and order relief

But is that realy

The relief

E Pluribus Unum

Is what we should seek?

Zimmerman 

Killed to play hero

Floyd had the oxygen

Snuffed out of him

A knee on his neck

He cried for his mom

It seems depite his cries

The officer had no qualms 

I still don't understand

When no cameras  are involved

Why  a kid with candy and soda

Gets murderd in the dark?

Because 

Of some vigilantee

Asshole

Trying to play Rambo.

A tale of two Georges

Black and white

Two different justice systems

Whites have yet to face. 

Between History and Honoring, By Brian37(AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter).

Fort Bragg, Fort Benning 

The rebel flag

All kept after

That side losing

And not only losing

But defending

A vile and cruel

Institution

Then the arguments come

Slavery was worldwide

In Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome

And Ancient Greece 

There is a huge differnce

Between preserving and honoring

Monuments say, "This was good, lets replicate"

History books and museums merely report.

The Holocaust Museum 

Has frightful content

But modern Germany

Would not give Goebbles a monument.

Even Auschwitz

Is preserved

But not to say

This was good

If statues of honor

Were always good

Then why did Iraqies 

Destroy Saddam's Statues?

Humans have inflicted

All sorts of crulty 

In the name of everything

Politics, nationalism, and tribalism.

China and Japan

Both can claim

The other the enemy

But all are human

It does no good

To cling to the past

I does no good

To glorify oppression 

Chiune Sugihara 

And Malala

Anne Frank

And King Jr

Belong in statues

Not the powers

In history who saught oppression

In lust for power over mankind

Change the names

Of our Military Bases

If you want "E-Pluribus Unum"

To truely mean something. 

 Apologies Vs Proof, by Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet and @brianrrs37 on twiter).

if you want the truth

You seek, not sell

If you merely sell

You are a gang member

Thus is the reality

Throughout human history

Tribalism far too often

Overides our common humanity

Allah, Jesus, 

Yahweh

Vishnu, Buddha

Osiris , Marduke too

In 1 billion years

Does anyone seriously think

Our current superstitions

Will be honored or obeyed

Were there any 

Written religions 200,000 years ago

When our species 

Didn't have writing or cities?

 The Fallacy Of Idealism, by Brian37 (AKA Brian James RationalPoet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter)

Pick your piosion

Of human tribalism

Name your flavor

Fight your fight

But day or night

Have never cared

About our species existence

The sun and moon do what they do

Irrespective 

Of our species strife

Gravity has been around

Longer than our ilk

The sun and moon

Have never argued

Over race or religion

And they never will

We are Sagan's specks 

An irrelievant species

On "A mode of dust

Suspended in a Sunbeam"

Don't get me wrong

I have a side

All of us do

To deny such is folly

But we are 

Still a short sighted species

And far too often forget

We are not a separate species

We have the power to think

The power to create

The power to destroy

And the power to ignore

That we are 

Ultimately an invasive species

And do not understand widely enough

We are a victim of our own success.

 History Is Fragile Like Life, By Brian James (AKA Rational Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter)

I wish my grandad

Had paper documentation

When he walked past 

The Washington Monument

When it was being  repaired 

Under construction

And asked for a piece of marble

That the workers handed to him

I also held

An Oscar award

At a local cable access 

Tv show

I met a collector

Whom showed me his bounty

Got to hold not only that statue

But JFK's credit card and class ring

But even with the morbid

I long to see

If I were not so frightened

Of flying to Italy

I hate turblence

It terrifies me

But I also long to see

The ruins of Pompeii 

I've been to JFK's grave

I've been to Ford's Theater 

The place of the death

Of the great emancipator 

I want to walk

On the Edmun Pettis Bridge

I want to see 

The Great Pyramids

But I know I wont

Outside of TV and books

But I wiill always value

How humans record

We will never do

100% of life

But we can look up history

On the internet.

To all reading  this

You will never see in person all of life

But at a minumum you can educate yourself

Online.

 Humans Want A Sexy Answer, By Brian37 (AKA Brian37 on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter)

Neat little bow

Are how humans

Stupidly think

Everything  goes

We want Roy Rogers to win

We want Brody to kill the shark

And for Dirty Harry 

To hit his mark

But that does not

Explain Stalin Or Po Pot

Or Charmin Mao 

Who went to their deaths

Went to their deaths

Without a lick of punishment

If neat little bows

Were accheaveable

There would not be

The death of those we love

Hitler never would have

Killed 6 million Jews

I wouldn't have watched

My late mother go

In a nursing home

In 2017

I'd prefer her alive

I'd give anything

I lost my best friend

From Austrlia

Got a call

From his sister

That he'd had a stroke

And ended up in a nursing home

No sorry, Lassie, Flipper

The stories don't always end up happy

Don't get me wrong

I still love life

I still see good

In our human kind

But fuck the damned bow

Fuck utopias

There is a reality

None should ignore

That both good and bad happen

And all of us are struggling

To get along

And avoid the harm

Lets all face

That we are all human

Skip the neat bow

That never existed

We are not presents

We are reality

If we are to solve problems

Lets seek them today.

 "Would You Believe" by Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet On FB, and @brianrrs37 on twitter).

Oh how smart

You think you are

Running casinos

Into the ground

"Whould you believe

That I could concieve 

Of a fake university

To to bilk peanty from?"

No you are not

Get smart

You are simply

The art of the con

Would you believe 

It is hard to decive 

Those who don't buy

The con of the ease

 Our Lives Don't Matter, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter).

A shocking thing to read

No matter the decree

Of the club you belong to

Or your enemy

What does all this mean

To humanity

If we are finite

In cosmic reality

But we are

And that matters

Not in that

Humans will live forever

Tribalism is bullshit

Us vs them

Our finite ride

All ignore

Our lives do matter

Not our finite ride

But how humaity

Choses to cooperate

We cant dictate what

The earth or sun do

But we can seek common ground

To get humanity through

Our lives don't matter

In context of billions of years

But if humaity wants to extend our ride

We cant live in fear

Of each other

We are still the same species

Wanting resources to survive

That all humans need.

 Power For Power's Sake, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @Brianrrs37 on twitter)

Yes you have the brawn

Yes you have the message

Yes you know how to

Convince everyone to follow you

Pander to the oppressed

Convince them you're the best

The solution to all

Their problems

But that is not

What oportunists are about

Simply prey upon your desperation

In your moment of distraught 

Stalin, MAO and Po Pot

Hitler all convinced their lot

To follow them with blind trust

And the minions became blind trust

This rightfull objection

To their oppression

Does not default

To corporate obbsession

I am sick

Of this "either/or"

Where blind loyalty

Dictates to all

It is a myth

That Marx "capitalist"

Died with his mantra

Dictators sill got rich

And in China

Even today

Where do you buy

Your laptop today?

Power is power

Globally and unfortunatly

That most of humanity

Still does not see

That our spices

No matter our class

Will not outlast 

Our cosmos.

 Sumimasen, By Brian37 (Aka Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on FB.

Thank you 

For our diverse world

Domo isn't

The only word

Ogenai Shima Su

Lets me know if 

It is ok

To tak a photo of you

Omantopoeia 

Is an expression of

 Smells sensations

Of life in general

Ikakamamasu

Is another form of thank you

But a deepr respect for life

In all that surounds you

Fuwa Fuwa

Means light and soft

Kira Kira 

Denotes shiny things of high cost

Gutsu Gutsu

When eating food

Denotes the boiling hotness

Of delicious food

Potsu Potsu

Is a rainy day

When the storm is stronger than that

Zahhh Zahh is the tropical way.

Doko desu ka

Is how you ask

If you are lost

Where to get to where you are going.

Humans are humans

No matter where we live

Our languages are most certainly

Complex and different

But in the  end

We are all the same

All of us no matter

Where whe live

Want the same things

A way to communicate

A way to survive

A way to know we are still alive.

 If Pat Benatar  were Japanese

"Get Nervious" would not be

The song she'd sing

"Get Doki" would be what she would have sung.

 Lord Of The Lies,  By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter).

You thought you could

Merely waltz in

Selling your hate

And division

Oh yes

Your bombastic 

Hateful rhetoric

Vilifying those who dissent

Got you in

But you stupidly

Surrounded yourself

With your corrupt kin

Flinn, Cohen

Manafort

And now Bannon

In handcuffs

Just like dog feces

You attract flies

Just like a corpse

Days after it dies

You don't sleep much

Pretty sure of that

You don't do any work

And golf on the weekends

Now I get it

You need to golf

To distract yourself from

Your incompetance 

Lord of the lies

Too stupid to see

Hundreds of years from now

History will not look kindly

Upon your existance

Based on based on selfishness

Daddy never taught you

Empathy and kindness

You went for it all

Not expecting to win

And when you did

I bet you now regret it

But not out of guilt

Not out of shame

But because 

Your being held to account.

Even if 

You get 4 more years

Your sorry ass

Will never learn

That there is more

In this life

Than being on top

Through vilifiying others.

I pitty you

That such arrogence 

And insecurity 

Infected you.

Lord of the lies

Only wins for so long

Humanity will still

Outlive you strong.

 Companionship, by Brian37  (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twtter)

Frog

Goldfish

Parrot 

Or dog

Hamster

Rooster

Turtle 

Or ferret at large

Butterfly

Or ant farm

Fish tank

We charge

With the duty

Of doing no harm

We call them pets

And they are companions

And my cat

Of 13 years

Is growing old

With greyng whiskers

But it is the same

No matter the pet

If one talks of Fido

Or  a boa

Long ago

In Lynchburg Virgina

My x wife and I

Took a trip

But we asked 

Our apartment neighbor 

To look after our

Goldfish

When we came back

She came to our door

Crying about

The death in the bowl

It wasn't her pet

It was ours

Only a fish

To us for sure

But nobody gets

To decide

What pets mean for everyone

No matter the kind

I know in reality

My current feline

Who curls up to me

Isn't important to cosmic history

But I do know

For right now

In my finite time

He does know how

To love me

And if there is a lesson

To all humand kind

Pets are always our best friend.

 7 In The Back, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter)

Kenosha, America

Stuck in a loop

What do white people

Expect black people to do?

Blake yet another

One after the other

What do white people

Expect black people to do?

Unarmed 

And walking away

His kids in the back

They shot him anyway

And Roger regrets

Not listening to Colin

What do white people 

Expect black people to do?

And the vindictive bully

Always incendiary 

Tells white suburbans 

They're comming for you.

7 in the back

We cant accept

It's way past time

To get something done

This Xerox abuse

Has no excuse

What do white people

Expect black people to do?

 "It's A Small World", By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @Brianrrs37 on twitter).

Left and right

Comunist, capitalist, anarchist

Sunni Shiite

Baptist, Mormon, Catholic

Buddist, Hindu

Marxist,

We all die

It is a small world

Considrering

The billions of stars

In this just one

Galaxy

And that does not

Include the trillions

Of galaxies 

In our entire universe.

But of course

Our species must fight

Needlessly 

Over our finite ride.

 The Arogence Of Special, by Brian 37, (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter)

If I die today

Some will remember me

Many wont

But ultimatly time wont care

The big bang

A black hole

Nor supernova 

Have ever been political

Not even 

A bacteria

Or cocroach

Or Covid 19

Give one

Flying fuck

Where friend or foe

Claim to be from

Tut and Gangus

Hitler and Stalin

Only extended their finite rides

From being famous

I could give 

A shit less

If you hate me

For being an atheist

Lust and blood

And lawlessness

You stupidly presume

Are atheist intent

To the fervent 

Believers in gods

Of all their labels

Anywhere in the world

I fully accept

This is my only planet

And as such

I accept you exist

I am only 

And have argued only

Not your rights

But your logic.

If humans want peace

Then it seems to me

We should all accept

We are the same species

The Christain dies

The Muslim dies

The Hindu and Buddist

Also die

So does the atheist

So did the ancient Greeks

So did the ancient Romans

And Mayans too.

But the reality is

This is the only planet we have

To realize the cosmos

Doesn't care about me or you

So it is up to us

Up to our species

To foster cooperation

To save our species. 

 South Lawn, By Brian37 (Aka Brian James RationalPoet on FB, and @brianrrs37 on twitter)

My late adoptive uncle

Was one of those obsucure foerheads

In the back of that famous Dallas photo

Where in bloodstianed dress Jacky stood next to LBJ

He flew Air Force 2

But I am sure he would have

Done the same thing

If serving in Nixon's time

Long after those events

Kennedy's  assasination

And Nixon's resignation

I found out something about my kin

Two of of us were adopted

Out of our respective families

And neither of us knew

How much history was close to us

My adoptive mother

Had my uncle her adoptive brother

Who was assinged 

To protect our President

But in all that

Having no way to know

My separated sister

From my  birth

By adoption

Her father rose

To fly Marine One

To protect Socks and shoes

 Fragile, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and @brianrrs37 on twitter)

It is nothing to assume

Nothing to take for granted

Vigilance, not paranoia

Is why we have lasted

"If you can keep it"

There is only one way

Apathy is deadly

When bullies have their way

We are strong

But fragile too

We must always fight

Assaults from inside too

We must resist

The authoritarian fist

The bombastic petulence 

Of the child throwing a fit

The language of despots

Authoritarian rule

Demanding blind loyalty

Purging those who do not do

But this year

We said "You are through"

Pack your bags

We're done with you

Flail and and wail 

All you want

But on January 20th

You'll still be gone.

 The Well Intended Left, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB, and @brianrrs37 on twitter)

"Don't attack their "hope"

Is the common argument

I get from

Those on the left

It is the same cliff

The religious zealots

Insist of always

Jumping of off

Getting along

Is a common desire

Our species evolved

From socialising together

But it means nothing

If all are to aspire

To coddling the insecurities

Of fear of question, to which no one should fear

"Hope" is fine

In wanting to extend our spiecies ride

But basing that on mythology, delusion

Is a dangerous ride

I am as "left"

As one can get

But I have my limits

When they request

That I don't question

Those in my camp

That I should be

An absolute loyalist

Ayaan Hersi Ali 

And Christopher Hitchens

I have agreed on some issues

And not that of others

I lean to the left

I get the empathy

I see it as progress

For all of humanity

But in this process

I do also warn

Demands of loyalty

And censorship scorn

Are the bane

Liberals should avoid

It is one thing to defend

Those in in the minority

The Trumps of the world

Are the same bullies

That produced Stalin and Hitler

And Castro too

But that does not preclude

Within our ranks

Criticism and blasphemy

All should protect.