I am writing to you to offer you my advice for winning the nomination and the Presidency. While I had hoped that you would have decided to retire from politics and let a new generation challenge Donald Trump, I understand why you chose not to do so. But I am afraid that you are about to commit the same fundamental mistake that Hillary Clinton did and in the end will end up retiring after losing to Donald Trump.
I retired from the U.S. State Department in 2016 after 27 years of service. I grew up in Berkeley went to college at the University of the Pacific and graduated from the University of Washington (MA Korean Studies, MPA). I also served in the Peace Corps in Korea. I have been to 49 out of 50 states (minus Alaska) and 45 countries, including two visits to Jamaica.
My advice, in a nutshell, is to make this a campaign about the future and your vision of the future. Paint your opponent Donald Trump as yesterday’s candidate, and mock him, calling on Grandpa Trump to retire to Florida and play golf. Depict him as senile, out of touch, and focused on returning America to the 19th Century. And call for progressive bold new ideas for the future of America. Be optimistic, be full of hope and good will.
Hillary’s biggest mistake was in my view making it all about how bad Donald Trump is, and not giving the voters a real sense of where she wanted to take the country. And in an age where the voters were ready for a big change to the status quo, being the establishment candidate was the kiss of death. Not to mention she refused to compete everywhere. And allowed Donald Trump to paint her as “crooked Hillary” and as too much part of the establishment which the public rightly destructed so much. She could have picked Bernie Sanders as her running mate, and perhaps defeated Donald Trump. In the end she won where it did not matter and did not compete where she should have competed.
So, in this upcoming election you have to tell the voters why you are so much better for them and the country than Donald Trump. It will not be enough to run against the Donald. People have to want to vote for you. Your experience counts for a lot but it is not enough. Your age is the same as Donald’s so that is a wash.
GO BOLD OR BE RETIRED
The times cries out for bold progressive challenges and for fresh thinking. You have two strikes against you. First, your age and your experience. Can’t do anything about either but you can run as a can do moderate progressive who knows how to get things done. Then resist the temptation to campaign against Donald. Make people want to vote for you as they share your vision of the possible future.
Here are my suggested policy proposals.
GO BOLD OR GO HOME!!!!
I would put forth a series of comprehensive bold future-oriented policies and reiterate them every chance you get. You could call them Joe’s Plan for the Future of America, or something along those lines. Maybe
“Let’s Boldly Go into the Future,”
But be big, bold, brassy, optimistic and challenge your opponents to produce a better plan or shut up and work with you to solve the nation’s problems.
Call for Free College Education Coupled with National Service Requirements.
Call for all Americans to serve three years in public service either in the military or in the government or NGO sector and in return, they will get four years of college paid for. For recent grads, they can serve and get their college debt forgiven. To those who say we can’t afford this, say we can’t afford to continue to put our college students in crippling debt they cannot afford. And everyone, especially the rich, should shoulder the burden of national service.
Call for The Green New Deal
Point out time and time again China, Germany, and other countries are building the green energy resources of the future while the U.S. which invented green energy is moving back to the 19th century.
When critics say we can’t afford this, tell them we can’t afford to ruin the world for our children’s future. We can’t afford to continue burning fossil fuels. Climate change is real and the U.S. must lead the way forward. That is what great nations do, lead the world in embracing change, in embracing the promise of the future. We can do no less.
Call to Fix Obama Care
Point out time and time again that we still have a broken down too expensive too burdensome a health care system. Point out time and time again that we have the most expensive system in the world yet we are about 25th in terms of health care outcomes. No one in this land should fear going bankrupt if they need to get medical care. We can do this right and we must do it right.
I would acknowledge that Obama Care is not prefect and that if you had a chance to re-do it you would make it much less bureaucratic and less burdensome. But be proud of what you and Obama accomplished. Promise to fix it and make it work.
One potential fix would be to open the Federal Health Care system to anyone who needs insurance and continue to provide subsidies to keep the premiums down.
Another option would be an expansion of Medicare so it covers about half the country.
When Republicans proclaim that they will repeal Obamacare and replace it with something, call them on their bullshit. Demand to know the plan now or tell them to shut up and work with you to fix Obamacare.
Call to repair our alliances
Declare that our allies are our allies and our friends and we will work with them to solve the world’s problems and restore American leadership. We will rejoin the Paris Climate Change and work to make sure it works. We will rejoin the Trans Pacific Partnership.
Offer a New Deal to North Korea
We will continue to negotiate with the North Koreans, offering them a way towards reunification with South Korea and rejoining the world economic community. You can damn the President here with faint praise. Say that it was good that he took the initiative to break the log jam and talk to the North but due to his inexperience and his naivety he was unable to make a deal. You can finish the job.
Offer to Talk with The Iranians
Tell the Iranians we are ready to talk with them and want a new deal that would benefit them and the U.S. along the lines of what we are offering the North Koreans.
Bring the Troops Home
I would call for most U.S. troops to return to the U.S., where they will be reposted along our borders and serve as adjunct border patrol agents and first responders as part of their mandatory new national service.
Rebuild America
I would gradually reduce military spending and devote resources to rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure. This must include high-speed trains, and must include perhaps hyperloop technology or Maglev trains? And the next generation of airplanes as well. We must rebuild our mass transit systems. We must embrace the development of driverless vehicles.
Challenge the Republicans on their “you are weakening national security” BS. When the Republican scream you are weakening national security call them out on their BS.
Ask them how repositioning troops to help deal with national security issues at home weakens national security? How does going to universal military service weaken national security? How does getting out of endless wars weaken national security? How does closing a few bases in Europe weaken national security? Or closing a golf course? Or a commissary? Point out that we already spend more on national security than any other nation on earth. How does rebuilding America’s failed infrastructure weaken national security? Challenge them to produce a better plan.
Call for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Start by acknowledging we need to improve security at the border but the wall is a waste of time and money that will not solve the problem. We need a comprehensive 21st century immigration policy that balances the need for continued immigration with the need to ensure that immigrants contribute to our country and enrich our country as they always have and always will.
Challenge the Republicans to come up a better plan and work with you to implement it.
Call for A Return to Space Including Lunar Colonies and Martian Colonies
It is time for the U.S. to lead the world again in space exploration. Offer to lead the way in building lunar and Martian colonies with the participation of the world’s other space powers.
Call for The Legalization of Marijuana, Emptying the Prisons of Marijuana Offenders
End the endless war on drugs. Repeal marijuana prohibition. Empty the prisons of marijuana offenders. End the private prison for profit system. End the prison pipeline that sweeps up brown and black youths and sucks them into prison for life. Reserve prisons for the most dangerous offenders, all other prisoners should be sentenced to community service, drug treatment or other non-prison sentences. Use the money saved by closing prisons for rebuilding infrastructure.
Gun Control
I like your gun control proposals. It is a step forward. Continue to push for universal background checks.
Fully Support LGBT rights
Fully Support the religious freedom of all Americans including non-believers
Call for a Return to traditional American civil norms that Trump has so badly damaged
For VP Pick a Hispanic woman
I think that you get my point by now. Be bold, inventive, optimistic, full of hope and energy and you will prevail. Make people share your bold vision. Be cautious, small-minded, narrowly focused, and all about how bad the Donald is, you will lose.
In 2017, I I participated in my first April Month of Poetry poetry challenge. The goal, write one poem per day during the month and post them. i completed a bit more than 30 and posted them on triferet journal @ http://tiferetjournal.com and on a special community facebook page https://www.facebook.com/tiferetapril2018poemathon/ .
as well as posting them daily on all poetry, writers digest and on my blog (which I did not have in 2017 and 2018.
I tried this year to experiment with more formal verse forms which is one of my creative goals this year. Writers Digest has a great list, as does All poetry, poetry Soup, Magnum Poetry Opus. For more info on formal verse forms see
I also added images and audio clips. For 2017, and 2018 I have gone back and revised them slightly adding in images and audio clips. I intend to turn these poems into my first published book of poetry.
Comments and feedback greatly appreciated. I intent to make this an annual creative project and keep going as long as I can.
Now to the 2018 Poems:
Index
published
April 01 Thank God For Angela April 02, 2018 Angela Haiku April 03, 2018 2007 How Much I Despise You April 03 Trump’s Wall Against Reason April 04 It Has been Done Before April 05 Walls Divide Us April 06 Mr. Trump Tear Down this Wall
< Aril 09 Trump April 10 Haiku April 11 Hiking in the Spring time Snow April 12 Learning I am Part Jewish April 13 There is Nothing More to be Said * April 14 Hiking the Hills of My Youth Hanibun April 15 Living with Pain Hanibun April 16 Five Signs of the Apocalypse April 17 Emperor Surveys the Eastern Sea April 18 The General Unleashes the Kraken April 19 Plead to the Computer Gods April 20 Number of the Beast April 21 The Neo-Fascists are Let loose April 22 Life In Between * April 23 the Light Will Prevail April April 24 April 19 Samonka for Angela
em>April 25 62 Years Young April 26 Married Girl of My Dreams * April 27 The Darkness Grows
April 28 It was God’s Will They Say April 29 Looking Out My Window April 30 In Search of America – Hitching the USA in 1975
Audio Clips
April 1 to April 5
April 6 to April 10
April 15 to April 20
April 20 to April 29
April 30 Hitchhiking Tales
April 1—
Thank God for Angela
Every day I wake up
And see you there
I thank God
That he had the wisdom
To send you to me
To save me
By bringing you into my life
You are the sunshine
That lights up the day
You are the reason
I get up in the morning
And you are reason
I exist
Without you I am nothing
But dust blowing in the wind
Waiting until death
Takes me down
April 02 –
2017 How Much I Despise You
Following 2016
the second worst year ever
Will 2018 be any better ?
And what we have suffered
The darkness settles on the land
Like a curse on the land
As our mad demented senile
dotard king wannabe
Struts about the world’s stage
Ushering America’s inevitable decline
April 03 –
Angela Haiku
Every day I wake up
To the love of my long life
And say Thanks to God
April 04,-
Trump’s Wall Against Reason
The President wants to build a wall
Against the southern hordes
Another great wall
To keep the barbarians out
He wants to build a wall
Against reason
Against science
Against the modern world
Hiding behind the wall
On the southern border
Desperately trying to keep them out
The unwashed masses
The undocumented
The illegals
Streaming across the border
Seeking to wreck the pure land
Murderous hordes
Rapists, drug dealers
Coming to take our land over
As he stands on the border
Trying to stop the hordes himself
April 05th –
It Has Been Done Before
Before Trump’s Wall
There were many other walls
The Berlin Wall
The Great Wall
Hadrian’s Wall
All the walls
of the ancient world
All failed
To keep the enemies out
The enemies of freedom
The enemies of the state
Still came across the border
To loot, steal, rape and plunder
And nothing could stop
The flood of history
April 06
Walls Divide Us
In Modern America
We all live in gated communities
Trying desperately to keep them out
Out of sight
Out of mind
And out of our lives
And yet we fail
Fail to accept the others
Are human beings
Are our fellow creatures
As we wall ourselves off
Into our separate communities
We lose our humanity
And we lose ourselves
As we hide in our walls
Hide in our bubbles
April 07
Mr. Trump
Please tear down this wall
Please open up your heart
Please stop this madness
We are all Americans
We are all one people
And your wall
Will not stop us
From becoming one people
Please tear down this wall
Please build bridges to the future
Please open your heart
And let the love shine through
April 8
Angela
Angela is my life
No better friend in the universe
Greatest Love of all
Every Day I thank God
Love of my life
Angela My Soul Mate
Love of my long life
Everything I ever desires
Everything I ever needed
April 9
— Trump
The President of the United States
Republican Leader of the Free world
Uber ales nations
Muttering insanities
Preposterous Nonsensical tweets
April 10th,
Putin
Post Modern Leader
Uniting all the Russians
Triumphant against all enemies
Including the Great Satan
Nevertheless always living in fear
April 11
Hiking in the Spring Time Snow
Talking a walk in the mountains
In the spring time snow
Snow falling down all over the trail
As I wander through the hills
Breathing the early spring smells
And seeing the world covered in white magic
The last remnants of the winter’s touch
Before the spring time gambol of flowers
Overwhelms nature once again
Preparing for the summer’s hellish heat
April 12
Met My Fate Haiku
I met my late fate
In a bar room face one night
My fate started that date
April 13 -,
Learning I am part Jewish
Recently I learned that I was part Jewish
That was long rumored in our family tree
Never confirmed until DNA came again
But whether my Jewish ancestors lived
Or died in the holocaust I have not heard
Never again will we live through that pain
April 14 –
There is nothing more to be said
There is nothing more to be said
Nothing more I can add
Nothing more than this
I will love you
Until the end of time itself
and death does us part
April 15 –
Hiking the Hills of My Youth
I grew up in Berkeley, California in the 60’s. Ever since I was a youngster I would wander the hills of Berkeley hiking for hours by myself and sometimes with my friends. I explored every nook and cranny every corner of the hills and got to know nature in its infinite beauty.
Ever since those days, I have longed for the day that I could spend my days hiking and wandering in the hills. Now that I am retired and living in Korea I can go for a long walk in the hills every day I want. It is not the same as the hills I grew up, no vistas of the Bay and it is in Korea to boot but most days it is sufficient as I head out early afternoon and conquer four or five miles of hills just enjoying that fact that I can still move and am still very much alive at age 62!
I grew up hiking the hills of Berkeley, California
Grew up knowing every corner of the hills
And the infinite beauty of the Bay Area
And now I find myself in a strange land
With time on my hands
I wander the hills above the airport
In Incheon Korea
And wander about here and there
Just being grateful
That I am still alive
And kicking at age 62
April 16,-
Living with Pain (Hanibun)
Back in 1996 I had the accident that changed everything. I went jogging one morning. It was dark outside, and I thought that I knew the trail. Big mistake. I fell down a ledge hidden where the trail should have been. I shattered me heal in a million pieces. I was rushed to an ER and told that I need an emergency operation and would be bed ridden for four months.
My wife was in San Antonio at the time serving in the Army, I was in DC working for the State Department. I flew in a wheel chair to San Antonio where they proclaimed that they had to wait a week for the swelling to go down before they could operate. The Air force doctors wanted to try a new procedure – using shark cartridge as a bone supplement. The operation was a success until I quit taking antibiotics six months later. I was in DC by myself then. I went to the hospital for an unrelated thing -removal of a cist I think. But the doctors took one look at me and proclaimed that the staph had become a multiple drug resistant staph and I needed an urgent operation. The next day I had the third of 15 operations. I endured six months at Walter Reed hospital but that was in the 90’s prior to the wars of the 21st century filled the base up. They had few customers and I got to know the doctors well.
I know pain
Intimately aware of every ache
Every pain
Ever since that day
When I went under the knife
And had the 14 operations
That saved my life
But I am not one to complain
I became one with the pain
Which I endure to this day
Knowing that I am alive
Having cheated death
Twenty times in life
Waiting for the grim reaper
To finally claim me
But that day has not come
And until then
I will endure
April 17th –
Five Signs of the Apocalypse
One
Watching the evening news
Spin forth
the latest scandals de jour
The fake news and spin
The daily propaganda
And the utter destruction
of common sense
And reason
The thought comes to mind
Are we living in the end of times
Is the Apocalypse drawing neigh?
Two
The signs of the coming
of the end times
Have been endlessly debated
Among the
Christian right wing blog sphere
Ever since Israel was reborn
Apparently
triggering the cosmic count down
“According to Revelation 12, a pregnant woman will be hunted by a satanic seven-headed dragon eager to eat her unborn child. The woman will be clothed with the “sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne. The Scripture continues to explain that the “woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”
But the pending eclipse is
another astronomical sign
the end is near
and that the Rapture is fast approaching.
….the image will be created in the sky on Sept. 23. …..Virgo represents the woman
in Revelations 12 who will be clothed in sunlight.
She will be in position over the moon
and under the nine stars and three planets.
….More importantly, to trust
the right God,” he reported to the publication. “If people want to be ready, the one thing you can do is accept what He has offered, which is the gift of grace and forgiveness. That’s all we have to do to be ready.”
Yet September 23 end
and the world is still here.
Are there other signs
that the end is near?
All of this
is speculation as Jesus said He didn’t know the date or hour when the Almighty would close the final chapter on mankind. Scripture clearly states in Mathew 24:36 that no one knows when the end will be. “But of that day and hour, no one
knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
Three
Yet the fear persists in my heart
As I watch the news
The days grow darker
Moment by moment
The light of reason
Seems to be replaced
By famines, rumors of war
and false prophets galore
All in according
to revelations
the false prophets claim
Gods plan
unfolding as we speak
“Things like wars, earthquakes, famine and technology (implanted microchips in our bodies already have been tested by BioNyfiken in Sweden) all point that we are moving toward Jesus’ return.
“The prophecy of Daniel 2 alone shows we are in the time of the end and all the other evidence proves we are in the very end times,” the site reported. They
indicated that the world was going to a 100 percent cashless system and how the “powers of this world are now trying to make cash obsolete, and are actively pushing pure electronic forms of payment, like PayPal and Google Wallet for instance. Take a look at the news and you will see this being reported in different countries of the world.”
Yes this has occurred already.
In India they wiped out the 100 rupee note
in an attempt to go cashless all at once !
and it failed.
Yes the signs are all about us
If only we have eyes to see
And ears to hear
And minds to understand
Four
“Non-Christians will find it hard to believe we are living in the last days of earth’s history. It’s in the Bible,
II Peter 3:3-4, TLB.
“First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will come scoffers who will do every wrong they can think of, and laugh at the truth. This will be their line of argument: ‘So Jesus promised to come back, did He? Then where is He? He’ll never come! Why, as far back as anyone can remember everything has remained exactly as it was since the first day of creation.’”
Yes, why has not Jesus come back?
Is that yet another sign the end is near?
They all say the coming of the Antichrist
is a sign of the end.
“It’s in the Bible, I John 2:18, NKJV. “
“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.”
What moral conditions will be characteristic of society in the last days? It’s in the Bible, II Timothy
3:1-5, NIV.
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”
And this is so true in the era of Trump
and the new oligarchs who have taken over
The swamp monsters have come out
of the dark slimly corners of America
Proclaiming
it is their time to come out
And openly
rule the world
And the bible confirms
this dire prophecy
Five
“Talk of peace and safety are a sign of the last days. It’s in the Bible, I Thessalonians 5:2-3, NIV.
“For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
The gospel will go to the whole world and the end will come. It’s in the Bible, Matthew 24:14, NIV. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Yes, I say on to you
When talk of peace in the world is upon us
When the Korean lions lay down their weapons
And proclaim their new found brotherhood
Perhaps the end times are finally coming to pass
“We have seen how seven biblically prophesied circumstances could not have come to pass until recent times. In fact, the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 was clearly a major turning point in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, as was the acquisition of the hydrogen bomb by the two superpowers of the 1950s that led to the period of mutually assured destruction.
All has now become possible. This, in turn, makes it much more likely that our generation will live to see Jesus Christ return and establish the Kingdom of God on earth. After all, Jesus Himself said that once these things begin, the generation alive at that time “will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34).”
And so, we close
Where we began
Fearing
that the end of the world
is coming
How it will end
is beyond anyone’s guess
Perhaps
the zombie apocalypse
will end civilization
More likely
nuclear war
and nuclear winter
Will doom us all
Perhaps a super volcano
Will blow us all to hell
Perhaps alien invaders
will take us over
Exterminating us
as we try to do
to the Native Americans
Perhaps
an AI will
take us over
Leading us
To terminator Land
Perhaps
the rapture will occur
And the grim events
In revelations
will come to pass
And perhaps
nothing will happen
We will somehow survive
The end times
But I am afraid
That the end times are coming
Sooner than we think
And so, the world ends
Much as it began
With a big bang
Or a soft whimper
God only knows
And he is silent as usual
April 18th
Emperor Surveys the Eastern Sea
The Emperor of the known world
Stood out on his balcony
In the eastern sea palace
Surveying the wilds of the Eastern Sea
Wondering who
or what lived across the sea
Or if there were lands there
As rumored by all
Lands ruled
by nameless
bearded ape like men
The Emperor of all the Lands
Ruled all the known world
From the imperial capitol
He had build in the dessert
He ruled all he could see
From the Eastern Shore
To the wild waste lands
Beyond the great wall
The Emperor had fought hard
Over the years
To unify the people
Under one banner
Fighting against the wild ones
Of the Western wastes
And their allies the witches
Of the inner world
And yet he was not satisfied
He knew that
he would have to lead
And expedition to the lands
Beyond the eastern Sea
And he could rest
Until he had finally
Conquered the known universe
Bringing it
under imperial control
That was his destiny
To rule the known
and unknow universe
As foretold by imperial soothsayers
And the prophetic books of ancient days
April 19 –
The General Unleashes the Kraken
General Lee
Stared out at the Eastern Sea
Wondering what was out there
On the other end
But today he had a mission
He was going to show
The Emperor
That his sailors had captured
The dreaded kraken sea monster
And had figured out how to ride it
And they were going
to release the kraken
As they put down
the latest rebellion
Among the restive folks
of the Eastern Shore
Who were resisting
becoming part of the Empire
The general ordered
Release the Kraken
And the kraken
A huge sea dragon
Came out of is dark dungeon
And two sailors climbed on board
And the Kraken
went into the ocean
And attacked the fishing
crafts of the villagers
Killing everyone in a few minutes
Of frenzied violence
The kraken came back
And the sailors
climbed off its back
And the kraken attacked them
Killing them
in a frenzied act of further violence
The emperor turned to the general
Very impressive
But needs a bit of work don’t you think?
The kraken looked up at the general
And screamed out curses
Saying
that the kraken
worked for no man
And that other kraken would be summoned
To revenge the attack on the kraken’s honor
And he leaped up
Grabbed the general and the Emperor
And dove into the ocean —
April 20, –
Plead to the Computer Gods
Today I woke up
As I usually do
To yet another mystifying morning
Of unspecified computer errors
Could not get the computer to work
Then when I finally got it to work
After an half an hour
Microsoft word did not load
And when it did
I finally located my work
From yesterday
I had to find it in the roaming file
Why?
Who knows?
Only to find
That most of what I wrote
Had vanished into the ether
No explanation no warning
It was there saved yesterday
And now gone for ever
Once I did an experiment
Tracking computer errors for a week
75% of the time I encountered errors
Most of the time simple
Screen freezes
no response message
Then when I recovered
the program
The data was gone
Microsoft has yet to respond
to my e-mail
I suppose I need to do it again
But today I will close with a prayer
To the Computer Gods
Just once I would like
You to do what you are supposed to do
Open my documents
Save my work
And not give me any errors
Crashes or other unspecified problems
Is that too much to ask
Oh, Computer Gods
Just once
Do what you are supposed to do
That is all I ask of you
April 21
Number of the Beast
Behold a vision
A nightmare
The legendary beast of revelations
Comes alive
Sniffs the air
Assuming the mantel of leadership
Turning into the Orange man
With unnatural hair
Spewing forth sweet sounding nonsense
Spraying hate with every word
Inciting the world into madness
He continues
into the halls of power
Walks down the street
Unleashing hell on earth
Soon all know
the number of the beast
666
As he prepares the world
To accept the anti-Christ
And all bow down
To worship their new master
As he leads the world
to hell itself
April 22nd –
The Neo Fascists are let loose
The Neo-Fascists are let loose
By their champion the man in Orange
Whose racist mutterings have let loose
The ranting nutty voices of the right
Championing their god given right
To rule and regulate
all that they see
April 23 -,
Life In-between
For years I have lived
In-between two worlds
Korea
where my wife’s
family comes from
And the Bay area
Where I grew up
and the laidback progressive
wild west coast
and the cutthroat
Dour eastern establishment
Washington DC
Where I worked for 27 Years
And I live between
My official duties
And my desire
To be a wild-eyed poet
And life in-between
Means you belong nowhere
Yet are everywhere
Always disoriented
Always half lost
Never really feeling you belong
That is life
Living in-between
April 25
Somonka for Angela
I have dreamt of you
For almost seven long years
And now you are here
What can I do about this
Only thing to do love you
You are all I want
All that I
need in this life
Thank to all the gods
For bringing you in my life
From now to the end of time
April 24
The Light Will Prevail
Mrs. Which says
This much we know for sure
Despite the lateness of the hour
And the growing power of the Dark Thing
In the end lightness will prevail
Defeating the dark one
April 24
62 Years young
I am 62 years young
62 years around the sun
37 of those years
I have spent
with the love
of my life —
April 26
Married Girl of My Dreams
I married the girl of my Dreams
first dreamt of her
back in 1974
Eight years later
she walked off a bus
and into my life
April 27 –
The Darkness grows
On distant Comazotz planet
The red eye one smiles
It is satisfied
The black thing is spreading
All the way to earth
April 28,
It is God’s will they say
It is God’s will they say
The neofascists and their ilk
It is the white man’s burden
To rule the unruly masses
To this I say
Never again
Will we let them
Take over the world
And lead us back
to the dark dangerous days
Of the Holocaust
Or the 19th century colonial era
Never again
Never again
Until hell freezes over
And the world ends
April 29—
Looking Out My Window
Looking out my window
In Incheon
What did I see
The neighboring apartment buildings
Obscured by the April rains
And yellow dust of early Spring
And in the distant the mountains
Aflame with spring colors
Beckoning me outdoors
Looking out my window
In Oregon
What did I see
Green trees
Silently watching me
And the cats gamboling along
Looking at me
While I look at them
Each wondering
what sort of weird creatures
The other is
And who
is the real alien species?
In Washington DC
Looking out my window
What did I see
I saw the squirrels
in the trees
And the peaceful trees
Of Capitol Hill
Near the seat of power
Yet somehow
I felt It all far away
In Suburban Virginia
Looking out the window
What did I see
I often looked out my window
At the trees and the jungle
In my back yard
And heard the distant roar
Of traffic on the busy suburban street
As people rushed to get to the freeway
In the early morning hours
In Madrid Spain
Looking out the window
What did I see
I looked out at
our Spanish neighborhood
Seeing the beautiful Madrid ladies
Walking down the street
Secretly admiring them from afar
In Barbados
Looking out the window
What did I see
The monkeys in the trees
Looking at me
Contemplating raiding my garden
As soon as I went away
In Seoul
Looking out my window
What did I see
The neighborhood
Alive outside my window
For so many years
In Seattle
Looking out my window
What did I see
I saw the ever changing green
Sea of trees
that is Seattle’s true color
The city is so lush and green
And alive with life’s
endless possibilities
In Stockton
Looking out the window
What did I see
The traffic moving
Through the dense fog
That often fell upon the city
Obscuring everything in its embrace
And growing up in Berkeley
Looking out my window
I saw nothing
But the dirt and trees
And shrubs
Of my ancestral home
And felt nothing
But loneliness
And a desire
To leave my home
As soon as I grew up
That is what I see
When I look out my window
Even to this day
I see where I have been
And wonder where I am going
As I stare out the window
Knowing that my life
Will surely come to an end
As I stare out at the world
Waiting waiting waiting
For my fate to unfold
April 30
In Search of America 1975 – Hitch hiking Tales
When I was young and foolish
Broke and stubborn
I hitchhiked across the USA
Started in Salt Lake City
Where my greyhound bus pass
Was stolen
The station manager
Could have helped me
But refused to do so
Threaten to call the cops
When I grabbed my bags
Without the stolen tags
I said
Go ahead
But I am
so out of here
Wondered about Salt Lake City
Went to a bar
Found I had to buy my booze
Next door
And they would
mix it for me
Had to order food too
After a bloody Mary
And a burger
I walked about town
Saw the Mormon Temple
Finally about 3 pm
It was time
to hit the road
Did not look back
Ended up in Cody Wyoming
Got a room shower
Steak beer
Using my rapidly
depleted cash
Spent 25 dollars
Money really went far
Back in those days
A band of professional
Communist agitators
Gave me a ride
To Des Moines
Lots of weed, booze
And politics later
Got off the road
Slept outside
Next day
A beautiful woman
Drove me to near Chicago
In a red mustang
Might have been
The girl in the song
Took it easy
Digging her vibe
She invited home
But was not sure
If her estranged husband
Would welcome me
So I being foolish
And inexperienced with women
Did not go to her place
And always regretted
That I had lost
My chance that day
Then on to Chicago
Several rides later
Visited friends
Hit the road again
A series of uneventful rides
With truckers
And others
And a week later
I ended in New York City
Slept along the way
In cars
In truck stops
In high way rest stops
Always moving
Always going
None stop talking
And lots of free weed
And beer
And conversation
One more memorable ride
Occurred outside Albany
On my return to Chicago
A middle age
creepy looking man
Picked me up
In a brand new Cadillac
He was
he said
a dynamite deliverer
For the Mafia
Went to various places
To blow up shit
He hated a lot of people
Particularly hippies
from California
And Jewish people
Looking at me to confirm
That I was both
I told him
that I lived in New York
And had never been
to California
And although
I might looked Jewish
As I had
what was called
back in the day
A “Jewfro”
I was not Jewish
Many years later I discovered
That I am indeed part Jewish
But then I did not know
And I felt a bit of
strategic misinformation
Might keep me alive
Then I realized
that he was just
jiving with me
And we relaxed
And he pulled
out some weed
And beer
And we mellowed out
But I believe
that he really
was with the mob
Perhaps not a dynamite dealer
A real made Italian
made mafia member
By Chicago
I had enough
I called my Dad
Told him what had happened
Wanted a ticket home
And he sent me a ticket
And 500 dollars
And I went home
I told him I would tell him
My tales some day
But never did
I learned so much
About my fellow Americans
And the strange vibe
That was 1975
in 2017, i participated in my first April month of poetry challenge. the goal, write one poem per day during the month and post them. i completed a bit more than 30 and posted them on Triferet journal @ http://tiferetjournal.com and on a special community Facebook page @https://www.facebook.com/tiferetapril2018poemathon/ .
as well as posting them daily on all poetry, writers digest and on my blog (which I did not have in 2017 and 2018.
I tried this year to experiment with more formal verse forms which is one of my creative goals this year. Writers Digest has a great list, as does All poetry, poetry Soup, Magnum Poetry Opus. For more info on formal verse forms see
I also added images and audio clips. For 2017, and 2018 I have gone back and revised them slightly adding in images and audio clips. I intend to turn these poems into my first published book of poetry.
Comments and feedback greatly appreciated. I intent to make this an annual creative project and keep going as long as I can.
Now to the 2017 Poems:
Index
April 1 Berkeley California
April 2 Lithia Springs
April 3 Walls
April 4 Changes
April 5 Facing Life’s Challenges Together
April 6 Wagontire, Oregon
April 7 Watching Cats Hunt *
April 8 Landlord Blues
April 9 Pane e circus 2017 Redux
April 10 Long Live Emperor Donald the Ist
April 11 3 Am Nightmares
April 12 Zombie Apocalypse
April 13 Spring Doositsu for Angela Poem a Thon
April 14 Love Jones
April 15 Kim Vs. Trump Twitter War
April 16 Why I am not a Christian Easter Thoughts
April 17 Love Haku *
April 18 Coffee Haku *
18 Spring Time in Oregon
April 19 Cats *
April 20 Secret Agency Man
April 21 COSTCO People Watching
April 22 The Dogs of War are Howling
April 23 Suburban Laundromat
April 24, I Want You Right Now
April 25 The Decline of America
April 27 Life is Wonderful
April 28 Sandwich Choices *
April 29 More Coffee Blues *
April 30 Rambling Man -Where Do I Belong?
Published
Audio Clips
April 1 to April 5
April 6 Wagontire
April 7 to April 12
April 10 to April 15
April 17 to April 20
April 20 to April 30
April 1
Berkeley California
Growing up in the 60’s
In Berkeley
almost 50 years ago
I think back
At those turbulent times
Those crazy wonderful times
Berkeley is a wonderful place
In many ways
Stuck forever in 1967
A true time travel experience
Every time I go back
And relive the memories
Of the 60’s
The 60’s never died
They continue
In college towns
Across the world
And Berkeley
Remains the mecca
Of the counter
cultural revolution
Many things have changed
But the organic food revolution
Became mainstream
Marijuana spread out
The sexual revolution
Became mainstream
So much of the world
Is but a reflection
Of the revolution of the 60’s
And the conservative
counter-revolution
That we are still fighting
So, I salute
My homeland
The center of my universe
April 2
Lithia Springs</strong
Staying at Lithia Springs
Soaking in the healing waters
Soaking my pains away
Renewing my life
Renewing my love
As we both soak away
As the pain of life go away
And our love grows
With each soaking session
Life is good
At the hot springs water
Sooths us
and smooth us
And we fall in love
Again and again
April 3
Walls
Trump wants a wall Between America and Mexico
A wall against the southern hordes
A wall based on fear and hate
A wall to make America safe
A wall to make America great again
And yet I wonder
Will his wall fall
Like the Berlin wall
And the great wall
And all the other walls
They all failed
All of them
Walls divide us
Walls make us
Into different tribes
Between the pure
And the impure
St Reagan, Said
Tear Down this Wall
Will future Presidents
Tear down this begotten wall
Or will it become a tourist attraction
Another great wall
Against barbarian hordes
April 4
Changes
I reflect upon my life
As the sun comes up
What could I have changed
What would I have changed
If I could go back in time
What would I tell my earlier self
What would I do differently
And what have I learned
The one thing
that I would not have changed
is meeting
the women of my dreams
the chance
meeting on a bus
that changed everything
in a moment
I met my fate
That day on the bus
And that
is the end of the story
April 5
Facing Life’s Challenges Together
Woke up at 0 dark hundred
Vowing to boldly go forth
And face
the challenges
of the future
Without fear
Knowing
that I have you there
Makes
all the difference in the world
As we meet our fate
Together
Until the day we die
And time takes us
Back to another world
Soul mates, together forever
We left Berkeley to go to Yakima
Where my father had a summer cabin
He was a college professor
And had July
and August off
And we spent the summers
Every summer from 1968 to 1978
Our whole dysfunctional family
Our annual road trip
to hell and back
As we did not get along at all
We decided to drive
through Eastern Oregon
Just my father and me
Just for the hell of it
The rest of the family
was already there
in Washington
waiting for us
My father and I shared a travel lust
One of the few things we shared
This was one of our best trips
We got along
Which was unusual
Normally our relationship
Was fraught
As we were so different
We left Klamath Falls
A real nothing burg
in those days
And headed east along highway 395
As we entered the desert
of eastern Oregon
We entered a different world
High mountain dessert
Almost
no one on the road
nothing on the radio
but country music
and talk radio
from KGO in SF
my father and I bonded
Learned a lot about his past
What he liked
And did not like
He hated country music
But loved news radio
And we talked about politics
And life in general
Just a father and son
Enjoying a rare
Father son
Bonding moment
We usually did not
get each other
I inherited too much
Of my Mother’s
wild Irish personality
To suite his dour Norwegian
Germanic personality
Then we saw the sign
Wagontire Oregon
100 miles ahead
Burma shave
We counted down the signs
Miles after miles
As we drove
into the gathering dusk
along with the wagon tire
countdown
were other signs
last gas for x miles
and the Burma Shave
road side signs
with their classic
cowboy poetry
slogans
which in 1975
were already
becoming
a thing of the past
had not seen those
since this road trip
but on this road
they still had them
every mile
Burma Shave signs
We speculated
that Wagontire
Must be a giant truck stop
In the middle of no where
And we drove on
Counting down the signs
Listening to dreadful country music
And endless political news
Wagontire 100 miles ahead
Burma Shave
Wagontire 99 miles ahead
Burma Shave
Wagontire 98 miles ahead
Burma Shave
Wagontire 97 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 96 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 95 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 93 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 92 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 91 Miles ahead
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Wagon tire
Last gas 90 Miles ahead
Burma Shave
Wagon tire 89 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 88 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 87 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 88 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 63 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 60 Miles ahead
Next Gas 60 miles last gas for 200 miles
Burma Shave
Wagontire 61 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 60 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 59 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 58 Miles ahead
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Next gas 50 last gas for 200 miles
Burma Shave
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Wagontire 48 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 47 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 46 Miles ahead
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Last gas 40 miles next gas 200 miles
Burma Shave
Wagontire 39 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 38 Miles ahead
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35 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 10 Miles ahead Last gas, food lodging for 210 miles
Burma Shave
Wagontire 9 Miles ahead Last gas, food lodging for 210 miles
Burma Shave
Wagontire 8 Miles ahead Last gas, food lodging for 210 miles
Burma Shave
Wagontire 7 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 6 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 5 Miles ahead
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Last gas, food lodging for 205 miles
Wagontire 4 Miles ahead Last gas, food lodging for 204 miles
Burma Shave
Wagontire 3 Miles ahead
Burma Shave
Wagontire 2 Miles ahead Last gas, food, lodging for 202 miles
Burma Shave
Wagontire 1 Miles ahead
Last Chance Gas, Food, lodging next gas 200 miles
Welcome to Wagontire, Oregon
Population 2 ½ humans 10 dogs, 50.000 sheep
We pulled into the town
Nothing there
but a gas station
Motel and café
We decided to stop
Last gas for 200 miles
According
to the highway signs
In the morning
We chatted with the owner
He was the sheriff,
the fire chief
The owner
of the motel,
gas station
The only business in town
And the only place open
For two hundred miles
Until the next town
John Day I believe
I asked the Sherriff
Say, who is the ½ human?
My idiot son!
And we left.
200 miles later
We finally
left Eastern Oregon
2016
In 2016 my wife
and I drove
through Eastern Oregon
As part of our epic
cross-country trip
first time for her
in Eastern Oregon
Idaho, Montana
Wyoming and many other states
last time I had visited
was during my epic road trip
with my father
summer of 1975
10,000 miles
31 states
in three months
to celebrate my retirement
On the way from Medford to Yellowstone
We drove along highway 395
The signs for Wagontire was gone
And we drove through the town
The motel was abandoned
Nothing there at all
And that sign
was gone too
and the Burma shave signs
long ago
faded into lost
Americana
On the radio
Nothing but country
Right wing talk shows
And Christian radio
I said I suppose the idiot son
Never took over the business
And we speculated about Wagontire
And all other nothing burgs
We drove through
that summer
Heart of Trump’s America
True fly over country
April 7
Watching Cats Hunt
Early morning
Watching two white cats
Hunting a white dove
The cats hunt in pairs
Tracking the bird
The bird flies away
Safe for now
And I think about the cats
And the hunt goes on
Such is life
And the fate of cats
And birds
April 8
Landlord Blues
I am a landlord
Owner of property
Here there
and elsewhere
Have been for years
Since 1989
When I bought my first duplex
I have tenants
and tenant
issues galore
I receive rent from the tenants
it seems money grows
on the proverbial tree
but at times
from time to time
I hate being a landlord
I suppose in my heart
I am a socialist
with a blending heart
But my wife
is comfortable
as a landlord
She calls me a hypocrite
And a wild romantic goat
Born under the sign of the goat
And I call her a capitalist pig
Born
under the sign of the golden pig
April 9
Pane e circus 2017 Redux
By order of his excellency
Emperor Donald the First
The merciful,
the Christian King of Kings
The Sultan of Sultans
The Emperor of North America
Be it hereby decreed
That the ancient honorable
gladiator games
Of the old Roman Empire
Have been restored
Each city in the Empire will host a team
They will compete for the honor
Of the national championship
The games will start
With fighting animals
Fighting fish
Roosters
Cheetahs
Tiger
Bears
Wolves
And lions
Then a man lion contest
With a heretic thrown to the lions
If he or she lives
They will be pardoned
Then then main games
Six men/women teams compete
Armed with swords, knifes, mace, clubs
They fight until one man or women remans
The victor of the game
Those who are prisoners
Can compete for their freedom
And a full imperial pardon
Let the games begin
Long may the games reign
In the new North America Empire
Praise be to the Emperor
Donald the First
April 10 Long
Live Emperor Donald the Ist
Ladies and Gentlemen
My fellow American citizens
Greetings and salutations
Today is a momentous day
The old corrupt USA republic is no more
The constitution that once protected us
Has been overthrown and violated
The barbarians at the gate
Have taken over
And ruined the once great land
The last hope of the world
And so, I had no choice
But to kill the old rotten regime
And restore American greatness
To save democracy
I must destroy it
And so, starting today
I will serve
as the Emperor of North America
I welcome Canada and Mexico
And the Caribbean islands
To join The North American Empire
As we rebuild America
Restoring American greatness
And making us all proud again
Proud subjects of the New American Empire
May the Empire reign forever and a day
Triumphant against all enemies
And so, I take this burden
Sadly, but gladly
I will serve you
As your Emperor
And my son Donald
Will serve as our second emperor
Once I pass from this world
His son will serve as the third emperor
And so on until the end of time
And we will reign
in our new capitol city
Colorado Springs
renamed New Rome
Until the end of time
Washington will remain in our hearts
As the capitol of the old Republic
But the heirs of the Roman Empire
Need a new Imperial Capitol
And soon we will conquer Mars
And expand our Empire to the Starts
Long Live the Empire
Long Live America
Good night
And may God Bless
This great Empire
April 11 3 3 Am Nightmares
3 am
The bewitching hour
When the wild things come out
And play
And torture you
With endless wild accusations
And nightmarish visions
As I toss and turn
Trying to escape
I look over at my wife
And as always
Repeat the mantra
Everything will be alright
And the wild things are banished
To the dark corners of my mind
And I recover my happiness
And I smile
As I look at the sleeping beauty
Still the most beautiful women in the world
Still the most alluring women in the world
Still in love with her
After 35 years
The love gets stronger and stronger
As she overcomes my despair
And the sun comes up
And I think to myself
What a wonderful life I have
With the women of my dreams
April 12
Zombie Apocalypse
Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me
Everywhere zombies galore
The end of the world had become
And the zombification
of the world had begun
Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me
No one knew when or where
the first zombies appeared
One moment zombies were just a collective
figment of our deranged imagination
The next moment we were all living
in a zombie apocalypse nightmare
Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me
Some said the zombies were created in a lab
Released by mad scientists and the military
Others said it was plague sent by God himself
To punish mankind
for tolerating evil and moral depravity
Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me
The Christians and Muslims prayed
But their prayers went unheard
As they too soon became zombies
Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me
The zombies hunted in packs
Overwhelming their victims
Killing most instantly
But some they simply bit
And turned them into fellow zombies
Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me
The zombies did not attack one another
They preferred living live flesh
Human flesh
but they ate everything they saw
Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me
And so, I ran into the countryside
With my fellow humans
Hit out deep in the woods
Hiding from zombies
And crazed cannibal gangs alike
Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me
The world ended that day
And our nightmare world began
Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me
April 13
Spring Doositsu for Angela Poem a Thon
Waking up seeing you there
Watching you as you wake up
Fills me with such sweat desire
Overcoming my mind
I sit watching you all day
Thinking of you all day long
Wild erotic imaginings
Love making to come
That old blues song come to mind
I just want to make love to you
I just want to make love to you
Nothing more than that that
I end this morning with this thought
You are still the most wonderful
The most beautiful creature
In the whole universe
April 14
Love Jones
I got the Love Jones, baby
And it won’t leave me alone
I got the Love Jones, baby
And it won’t leave me alone
I’ve been writing these love poems
All day long
And I have been dreaming
Of all the ways,
I could make love
To my secret lover
If only she will let me be
If only she will open her heart
And let me in
Perhaps the love Jones
Might leave me along
But I got the love Jones
Bad baby
Can’t you tell?
That the love Jones
Has grabbed my Soul
Twisted it up into little pieces
And I need you
To unravel the Love Jones
I need you to answer the call
Of the Love Jones Baby
I need you
To let me be free
Of the spell
Of the Love Jones
I got the Love Jones
Baby
I got it bad
And only you can
Put a stop to the love Jones
Baby
Let me enter your life
Put out the fire of desire
Send the Love Jones packing
And let me make sweat love to you
Oh, Love Jones
Go away
Let me be in peace
Love Jones
Leave me be
Baby
I got the love Jones
For you
Can’t you see?
What you do to me?
I got the Love Jones
Baby and it ain’t going away
Until I get to make love to you
Then perhaps this Love Jones
Will leave me be
Love Jones
April 15 Kim Vs. Trump Twitter War –
in memorial of Kim Il Sung’s the Great Leader’s Birthday
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un waves from a balcony of the Grand People’s Study House following a mass parade marking the end of the 7th Workers Party Congress in Kim Il-Sung Square in Pyongyang on May 10, 2016. North Korea kicked off a massive parade in the centre of Pyongyang on May 10 to celebrate a just-concluded ruling party congress that was seen as a formal coronation for supreme leader Kim Jong-Un. / AFP / Ed Jones (Photo credit should read ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images)
President Kim, it is time that we cut the shit and cut a deal #Real Trump
President Trump, it is impossible for us to cut a deal unless you agree to me keeping nukes # Kim Jong-un the Great
President Kim, you know that if I want I can just make you disappear. You can be wiped off the earth in a moment. We know where you live #real Trump
President Trump, we have a nuke with your name on it on a boat sailing up the Potomac and it will blow your ass up any day now so don’t fuck with us. #Kim Jong-un the Great
Kim, your stupid Asian gook. Let me break it down for yah You threaten the US you die and all the North Koreans go to hell. Is it worth it? #real Trump.
Trump, you are so stupid. You are the worst excuse for a human being ever $ Kim Jong-un the Great
Kim, you are the stupid mother fucker. I mean what’s up with that idiot haircut of yours? $real Trump
Trump, I would not talk about hair, your orange haired mutant mother fucker. #Kim Jong-un the Great
Kim, it is all real baby and so are my wife’s boobs… #real Trump
Trump, let’s cut the crap and get down to business. How much will you pay us to get rid of the nukes? #kimJongun the Great
Kim, lets meet manor a mano and get it out on the table. No nukes no chems no bioweapons and no more political prisoners to start with #realTrump
Trump, we can discuss. If I can stay in power the rest is negotiable #Kim Jong un the great
Finally, the two of you are talking sense. About time #Xi the President of China
April 16
Why I am not a Christian Easter Thoughts
On Easter Sunday,
I often think about Christianity
I don’t understand why anymore
would believe such nonsense
The essential story makes no sense
An imaginary all powerful deity
that no one has ever seen or heard
Except for psychotic patients or Drug users
Comes down to earth
and impregnates a married woman
Who has never had sex for some reason
And her husband is okay with that
Believes her wild story
And still does not have sex
Until after the baby is born
Then there is total silence
Nothing about Jesus’s childhood
30 years later he emerges
Preaching love, peace and brotherhood
And denouncing the corrupt temple leaders
And the Jewish leaders as well
The miracles also don’t make any sense
In the real world,
you can’t turn fish into bread
Can’t walk on water
Can raise the dead etc. etc.
Just does not happen
In the world, we live in
And has not happen
since those ancient days
Then the last supper makes some sense
Jesus knows he is about to be betrayed
But he does not confront Judas
Does not run away
Does not encourage his disciplines
To run away with him
The whole Jesus Mary M story
Also, does not make sense
Jesus must have been married
Or he was gay
There is no doubt
Either way the story makes no sense
The crucifixion is the only part of the story I buy
Jesus was put to death because he was a rebel leader
And the Romans tolerated no dissent
To the Roman’s right to conquer and rule
The rising from the dead stories
All contradict one another
And Jesus was either walking as a normal human being
Or was a ghost
The door was rent open as if by lightening
Or not
Finally, we have been waiting over 2,000 years for his return
You would think if the story is remotely true
He would have turned up by now
Except he has
As many lunatics claim to be Jesus
in the flesh
all delusional of course
and that is what I think of Christianity
nothing but fairy tales and mass delusions
surrounding a kernel of truth
Love each other
Treat each other right
Don’t be consumed with greed
But couldn’t that message
Be made simpler
Without all the associated nonsense?
So, on this day I say
Open your minds
And discard the nonsensical elements
of Christian thought
And follow the true teachings of Jesus
Even if you don’t believe
in the imaginary man in the sky
April 18
Spring Time in Oregon
Spring has finally sprung in Oregon
Escaping from the longer winter prison
That has covered the land with snow
They say that this winter
Was a colder than normal winter
Wetter than normal
As the long drought finally ended
As nature resumed
its normal spring thaw
I rejoice
Seeing all the signs of spring
Especially the sight
of young beautiful women
Shedding their winter clothes
And walking about
in the spring sunshine
So wonderfully alive
So, beautiful and sexy
As they sashay about
Here and there
It makes me smile
All day long
Yes, I love Spring time
Everywhere in the world
But especially in Oregon
My new found second home
April 19
Cats
I often wonder about Cats
What do they think of us
It seems at time
That cats think of humans
As their slaves
We exist to feed them
To comfort them
To save them from their enemies
And to worship them
Yes, cats are an alien species
Totally different from humanity
Detached, and almost evil
If we ever encounter an alien civilization
God help us if it’s a cat based civilization
We would then be engaged
In the epic mother of all wars
As cats and humans would not get along
The cats would think we were their slaves
And we would resent and fear them
And secretly worship their alien ways
April 20
Secret Agent Man
Secret agent man
Where are you going?
What do you know?
And when did you know it?
What dark secrets do you hide
In your inner soul?
Do you even have a soul anymore?
Or has it been so compromised
That there is nothing left?
But lies, within lies with lies
Do you even know the truth?
Does the truth set you free?
Or is the truth just another lie?
That you tell yourself
I’d like to know
My secret agent man
Perhaps someday you well tell me
Your deepest darkest secrets
And reveal what the government is hiding
But perhaps I can’t handle the truth
So, keep you secrets to yourself
And let them die with you
As you go to your grave
Your secrets buried deep within
Your corrupted soul
Until the end of time
Reveals all
April 21
COSTCO People Watching
I love my COSTCO
I love going there to shop
But most importantly
I love people watching
Looking at people as they walk by
Wondering what their stories are
And covertly checking out
the beautiful girls
As they walk on by
And when they smile at me
It makes my day
Yes, I love my COSTCO
And COSTCO Loves Me back
Extracting my money
From my wallet
I go in for one simple thing
And walk out
having spent 500 dollars
Yes, COSTCO has my number
And loves me too
Long Live COSTCO
April 22
The Dogs of War are Howling
The Dogs of War
Have been set free
Of their cage
And are out
Howling at the moon
The Dogs of War
Have been set free
To wreck what havoc
Might be
Yes, the Dogs of War
The Hell Hounds
Have bound out of their cages
Sniffed about
And smiled
At the destruction, they saw
They knew soon
They would be in their element
As the world descends into chaos
The Dogs of war
Are at foot
The chaos is upon us
The evil grows and grows
And dark noises are heard
Here and there
And the dogs of war
Smiled
They knew soon
They would be in their element
The war machines
Came to life
The plans came out of the books
The military might be unleashed
And the Dogs of war
Smiled and howled at the moon
And the rest of the world
Shuddered
At the thought
of what was yet to be
Satan on the other hand
Was happy as can be
With the evil shit
That was going down
He smiled
Patted his hell hounds
And told his dogs
The war to end all wars
Armageddon is upon us my friend
Soon, mankind will know
The face of absolute evil
And they will love it
When I take over
The armies prepare
The bombers prepare
And the dogs of war
Are happy
Unleashed to do their mischief
And soon millions may die
And the pits of hell
will open
And the judgement day
May be upon us all
Madness descends upon the land
The fog of hate envelops us all
And reason and civilization
Fall away
As the Dogs of War
And their minions
Take over the minds of man
And the end of the world
And the beginning
of the end times
Come upon us all
And the US goes bankrupt
Morally and fiscally
And the evil that men do
Goes on and on and on
But the war machine must be fed
The munitions makers must be paid
As each million-dollar missile is launched
Millions more are made
And the corporations
Think of the endless profits
To be made
Every time they kill
With the war machines
But who cares about the victims
They are nothing but collateral damage
Who cares about the soldiers
Nothing but cannon fodder
Who gives a damn
About the dead
They are dead and gone
Just think about the profits
Think about the profits
Satan is happy
The dogs of war
are free at last
April 23
Suburban Laundromat – thanks to Don Teeter for the inspiration from a FB posting
Suburban Laundromat Scenes
Suburban laundromat
Anywhere USA
I often go to a suburban laundromat
Near my suburban apartment
I can sit in my car
Listen to jazz, classical or blues
On my car’s radio
And watch my machine
Doing its suburban laundry duty
Just spinning and spinning and cleaning
Doing its thing its laundry thing
The neighborhood is anywhere USA
Strip malls, apartment houses, townhouses
A fire station, a police station
Banks, cell phone shops
Restaurants from around the world
At the parking lot’s edge
As I approach I notice
Gentlemen of the off-grid class
Sitting among their Hogs
Stoned off the semi legal weed
Smiling at me
With an I don’t give a fuck attitude
That is somewhat contagious
They tell stories
Paranoid ramblings
Containing a kernel of truth
As they watch their clothes
Like a hawk
The clothes spin and spin and spin
As the laundry machine does its laundry thing
The machines don’t care about what we humans think
They just do their duty as the man says
Across the old run-down boulevard
The light rail line uses a right of way
That dates to the mid 1850’s
An old Indian game trail perhaps
That the white man turned into the first road
In these parts
People come and go
Some in cars
Some on foot
People from all over the world
Speaking languages from everywhere
But all understand English to some extent
And many understand Spanish to some extent
I feel everyone is united
Chiefly by their transience
And think back on old Latin saying
Sic transit Gloria mundi
And wonder if these are the end days
And ask the laundry machine
What does it think
The laundry machine pauses
Seems to think
And looks at me
Almost saying
WTF do you think
A laundry machine knows?
And so, I gather my items
Nod to the regulars
Who interrupt their endless paranoid arguments
Acknowledging my existence
And I stumble back
To my suburban apartment
Truly paradise on earth
April 24,
I Want You Right Now
I still want you
More than anything else in life
I want you
I want you next to me
I want you every moment
Of every minute
Of every day
I need you in my life
I need your wisdom
I need your kindness
I need your beauty
I need your special wit
And I need your ability
To deal with this cruel world
I need you to save me
From the demons
That haunt my Soul
For you are my soul mate
The only person
Whoever completed me
And made life worth living
April 25
The Decline of America
You see it everywhere
The unmistakable signs
That the decline of America
Is in full swing
And we have gone past the tipping point
There is nowhere left to go
But downward
As the Empire begins to collapse
Victim of imperial overreach
Like all empires before
The DC metro on a good day
Is a broken-down remnant
Of a once proud system
The future of mass transit
Its proponents said
The interstate highway system
Is falling apart day by day
The cost of rebuilding America mounts
And our politicians are afraid
That it will costs trillions of dollars
Just to prevent the US from collapsing
Into third world irrelevance
We have the world’s most expensive military
A million dollars per missile
And yet we can’t find the money
To provide decent health care for all
Bombs, and tax cuts for the wealthy
Are the only things
That the Republicans care about
And the world looks in amazement
At the clown boy President
As he struts about
Looking more and more
Like some Banana Republic
President for life
With his family
grabbing as much loot
As they can
From the federal government
Before the coming revolution
Overthrows them
When did we start this decline?
Some say 1960s started it
Others say Nixon’s to blame
Others claim that it was Carter’s fault
Or Saint Reagan’s fault
Or the other boy President GW Bush
Or Obama the fake American’s fault
Does it really matter
All I know
Is the America I knew
The can do anything country
Is alas no more
And I morn for our lost liberties
Our lost sense of purpose
Our lost sense that America
Was the last great hope of Mankind
And still I wonder
Can America be made great again?
As our President Trump proclaims
The end times approaches
Nuclear war is talked about
Another missile crisis
And instead of JFK leading the country
We have Donald John Trump
The one and only
The greatest con man
To ever get elected
And I fear the end is in sight
As America begins its decline
Will we be one country
Or will we erupt into a civil war
The right claims that the left has started it
And the left claims that the right has started it
And both sides claim that the civil war
Is inevitable
A fight for the future of our country
And so, it goes
The decline of empires
And I pray
That I may survive
The end of times
April 27
Life is Wonderful
This morning I woke up
Always a good thing
At age 61
I looked out my window
And saw a bright blue sky
Nice Spring time weather
Not a frown in the sky
Not a cloud to hide
The bright late April Sun
I looked over
And saw her there
As always
The nighttime anxieties fade away
And I realize once again
Everything will be okay
If she is with me
And I said to myself
What a wonderful day
April 28
Sandwich Choices
There are so many choices to be had
When ordering a sandwich
What kind of bread
What kind of meat or any meat
What kind of cheese or any cheese
Whether to have sprouts or not
Whether to have a pickle or not
Whether to go with a classic peanut butter
And something sandwich
I loved peanut butter sandwiches
As a kid
Peanut butter and sweat pickles were my favorite
Peanut butter and banana is good also
Peanut butter and strawberry jam
What a delightful memory
My current favorite
Is a BLT with sprouts, avocado, and kosher dill pickles?
Heirloom red tomatoes one slice per each half
Avocado one half per each half
One half pickle on each half
Bacon cooked just right – well done but not black
Sprouts and lettuce just right
Timamook Yellow smoked cheder cheese
On each half
On Gluten Free bread
with chipotle mayo
And Dijon mustard
Cut in half
Truly a sandwich made in heaven
And bacon makes everything
Taste so damn nice
And God if you are reading this poem
You had better prepare them for me
Or Heaven will not be worth it
Does Satan serve BLT sandwiches
I wonder
Probably not
Probably you become the bacon
In his hell sandwiches
April 29
More Coffee Blues
One morning as I drank my fake coffee
I needed to go out
and get a cup of real coffee
The fake coffee just did not do the trick
It tasted almost like the real thing
But just did not have that kick
And I needed it bad
I needed the real coffee buzz
I realized that I was a coffee addict
I tried to just drink decafe
But was boring
And almost as bad as the fake coffee
That I drank
Caffeine was bad for me
I knew it
But I craved the rush
Craved the intense buzz
Craved the hyperactivity
Kept me all day
And caused me nightmares
Sometimes for days on end
I knew I could not handle it
But like all addicts
I needed my coffee buzz
And so, I once more
Drank my drug of choice
And entered the coffee zone
As I fried my brain
With caffeine
The last legal drug
In neo-puritan America
And I smiled as I gave in
To the intoxicating smell
And flavor of my coffee
And surrender my free will
And drank my coffee
Waiting for the nightmares to come
April 30
Rambling Man -Where Do I Belong?
I have been a rambling man
All my adult life
Grew up in Berkeley, California
Went to College in Hayward and Oberlin
During my lost year
Lost in a fog of booze and pot
Then I came back to reality
And went to college
In Stockton, California
The central Valley
Ohio transplanted to California
Then after four years in Stockton
With extended weekends
and breaks in Berkeley
I became an expatriate wanderer
Peace Corps worker in Korea
Then taught ESL in Korea
For four years
Occasionally returning to my home
But always wanting to be elsewhere
Then back to Korea
And then Seattle for four years
Driving back and forth to the bay area
Stopping off in Southern Oregon
Eventually bought a house and duplex
In Southern Oregon
Vaguely thinking we would retire there
Some day when my rambling ways were over
Then back to Korea for three more years
Then I joined the Foreign service
And my wife the military
And I wandered the world again
Always somewhere
Always dreaming of my next somewhere
Never there
As I was a permanent expat
And a diplomat to boot
Never a local
But never really felt I belong there
Or in the America
That was becoming more and more
A foreign land
The longer I stayed away
I stayed on in DC for almost ten years
Off and on
But never really felt
that I belong there
I was too West Coast in my heart
And DC seemed to be
Just a place to stay
In between travels
Stayed in Thailand
Then later India
And Eastern Caribbean
And later Spain
Traveled to 45 countries
Lived in ten
And now I am retired
Still torn between
living the expat life
In Seoul, Korea
And returning to the West Coast
And occasionally back to DC
and Florida as well
And I wonder
Where do I belong
Where do I belong
Other than wherever
My wife and I end up
Neither here nor there
Half way there
And so is that my fate
Never to really belong
Never to have roots in the ground
Always wanting to be somewhere else
Always a stranger in my native land
And a stranger in my other home
Across the sea
There is no answer to these questions
As the rambling urge comes again
And I prepare to move yet again
Hoping someday I will be
I am writing to you to offer you my advice for winning the nomination and the Presidency. I believe you have the potential to be our next President and I hope you take this advice to heart. I would love to discuss it with you or your staff at an appropriate time.
I retired from the U.S. State Department in 2016 after 27 years of service. I grew up in Berkeley went to college at the University of the Pacific and graduated from the University of Washington (MA Korean Studies, MPA). I also served in the Peace Corps in Korea. I have been to 49 out of 50 states (minus Alaska) and 45 countries, including two visits to Jamaica.
My advice, in a nutshell, is to make this a generational change election like in 1960, and in 2008. Paint your opponent Donald Trump as yesterday’s candidate, and mock him, calling on Grandpa Trump to retire to Florida and play golf. Depict him as senile, out of touch, and focused on returning America to the 19th Century. And I would also call upon Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren to retire from the field and let the next generation battle it out to become the nominee.
You are the product of the 21st Century and proud of it. Embrace your multicultural roots and embrace the wonderful diversity of your home town Oakland. Embrace Californian values as American values for the 21st century.
Then regarding policy proposals
GO BOLD OR GO HOME!!!!
I would put forth a series of comprehensive bold future-oriented policies and reiterate them every chance you get. You could call them
Kamala’s Plan for the Future of America, or something along those lines.
Maybe
“Let’s Boldly Go into the Future,”
But be big, bold, brassy, optimistic and challenge your opponents to produce a better plan or shut up and work with you to solve the nation’s problems.
Call for Free College Education Coupled With National Service Requirements.
Call for all Americans to serve three years in public service either in the military or in the government or NGO sector and in return, they will get four years of college paid for. For recent grads, they can serve and get their college debt forgiven.
To those who say we can’t afford this, say we can’t afford to continue to put our college students in crippling debt they cannot afford. And everyone, especially the rich, should shoulder the burden of national service.
Call for The Green New Deal
Point out time and time again China, Germany, and other countries are building the green energy resources of the future while the U.S. which invented green energy is moving back to the 19th century.
When critics say we can’t afford this, tell them we can’t afford to ruin the world for our children’s future. We can’t afford to continue burning fossil fuels. Climate change is real and the U.S. must lead the way forward. That is what great nations do, lead the world in embracing change, in embracing the promise of the future. We can do no less.
Call to Fix Obama Care
Point out time and time again that we still have a broken down too expensive too burdensome a health care system. Point out time and time again that we have the most expensive system in the world yet we are about 25th in terms of health care outcomes. No one in this land should fear going bankrupt if they need to get medical care. We can do this right and we must do it right.
One potential fix would be to open the Federal Health Care system to anyone who needs insurance and continue to provide subsidies to keep the premiums down.
Another option would be an expansion of Medicare so it covers about half the country.
When Republicans proclaim that they will repeal Obamacare and replace it with something, call them on their bullshit. Demand to know the plan now or tell them to shut up and work with you to fix Obamacare.
Call to repair our alliances
Declare that our allies are our allies and our friends and we will work with them to solve the world’s problems and restore American leadership. We will rejoin the Paris Climate Change and work to make sure it works. We will rejoin the Trans Pacific Partnership.
Offer a New Deal to North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela
We will continue to negotiate with the North Koreans, offering them a way towards reunification with South Korea and rejoining the world economic community.
Offer to Talk with The Iranians
Tell the Iranians we are ready to talk with them and want a new deal that would benefit them and the U.S. along the lines of what we are offering the North Koreans.
Bring the Troops Home
I would call for most U.S. troops to return to the U.S., where they will be reposted along our borders and serve as adjunct border patrol agents and first responders as part of their mandatory new national service.
Rebuild America
I would gradually reduce military spending and devote resources to rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure.
This must include high-speed trains, and must include perhaps hyperloop technology or Maglev trains? And the next generation of airplanes as well. We must rebuild our mass transit systems. We must embrace the development of driverless vehicles.
When the Republican scream you are weakening national security call them out on their BS. Ask them how repositioning troops to help deal with national security issues at home weakens national security? How does going to universal military service weaken national security? How does getting out of endless wars weaken national security? How does closing a few bases in Europe weaken national security? Or closing a golf course? Or a commissary? Point out that we already spend more on national security than any other nation on earth. How does rebuilding America’s failed infrastructure weaken national security? Challenge them to produce a better plan.
Call for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Start by acknowledging we need to improve security at the border but the wall is a waste of time and money that will not solve the problem. We need a comprehensive 21st century immigration policy that balances the need for continued immigration with the need to ensure that immigrants contribute to our country and enrich our country as they always have and always will.
Challenge the Republicans to come up a better plan and work with you to implement it.
Call For A Return To Space Including Lunar Colonies And Martian Colonies
It is time for the U.S. to lead the world again in space exploration. Offer to lead the way in building lunar and Martian colonies with the participation of the world’s other space powers.
Call for The Legalization Of Marijuana, Emptying The Prisons Of Marijuana Offenders
End the endless war on drugs. Repeal marijuana prohibition. Empty the prisons of marijuana offenders. End the private prison for profit system. End the prison pipeline that sweeps up brown and black youths and sucks them into prison for life. Reserve prisons for the most dangerous offenders, all other prisoners should be sentenced to community service, drug treatment or other non-prison sentences.
Use the money saved by closing prisons for rebuilding infrastructure.
Gun Control
I like your gun control proposals. It is a step forward. Continue to push for universal background checks.
Fully Support LGBT rights
Fully Support the religious freedom of all Americans including non-believers
Call for a Return to traditional American civil norms that Trump has so badly damaged
call on Trump to retire to Florida to play golf
regarding how to deal with Trump, gentle mockery is in order. it drives him crazy. just respond,
“there he goes again”. or, “time to retire, Old man.” “I hear that golfing is fun once you are retired.”
For VP Pick a Man
To get elected you need to appeal to men as well as women and to appeal to white people as well as minorities. So, for your VP pick, I’d be a bit cautious and go with a white man, perhaps a Hispanic man. I’d pick a governor from the Midwest. Perhaps the governor of Colorado? Picking Mayor Pete would be a bold move.
I think that you get my point by now. Be bold, inventive, optimistic, full of hope and energy and you will prevail.
Stay away from the professionals. Don’t play it safe. Be real, in your face, and authentic East Bay. Groove to Tower of Power on the campaign trail! Keep it real, my dear. 100 percent real you.
More Soul Power for You!
Be cautious, small-minded, narrowly focused and you will lose. In short,
Kamala, GO BOLD OR GO HOME.
Sincerely
Jake Cosmos Aller
703-436-1402
Jakecaller@gmail.com
