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WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 22

by Jerome Betts

“ICE crackdowns intensify across Boston as sanctuary cities face Trump’s latest operation”
—The Associated Press

French lady with the flaming torch
Before the USA’s front porch,
How many weeks till DJT
Deports you back across the sea?

by Thomas Germana

“President Trump announced Wednesday that he will designate antifa as a terrorist organization,
and is recommending investigations into people who allegedly fund it. … Antifa—short for anti-fascist—
is a loose affiliation of mostly left-leaning activists, and generally is not considered to be a highly
organized group.”
—CBS

To all you SICK ANTIFA THUGS,
You better hide your UGLY MUGS.
You’re DONE! Now RUN! We’ll HUNT your kind
Till “FA” is all that’s left behind!

by Marshall Begel

“U.S. influencer who filmed himself wrestling wild crocodiles in Australia is under investigation:
‘Dangerous and illegal’”
—CBS

Should crocodile-stalking YouTube stars
be collared, tried, and sentenced behind bars?
I’d prefer the laissez-faire solution.
Since 80 million years of evolution
have set the roles of predator and prey,
some problems, if ignored, just go away.

by Stephen Gold

“Scottish parliament scraps legal verdict of ‘not proven’”
—The Guardian

Not proven’s a verdict, ye ken,
That’s saved criminals yers in the pen.
Which is why people sneer
That its meaning is clear:
Not guilty—don’t do it again!

by Thomas Germana

“‘Fox and Friends’ co-host Brian Kilmeade floated a stunning suggestion on the show this week
for dealing with homeless people who refuse to get help for mental health issues. Kilmeade’s idea? Kill them.”
—Penn Live

“It’s not fascism, it’s not the Gestapo taking out a late-night host for what he said.
It’s old-fashioned accountability.”
—Brian Kilmeade on Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension by ABC

Do not be cruel to those who died;
It’s never ever justified.
Instead, be kind and always show
Respect for them. The living, though…

by Mike Mesterton-Gibbons

“Mystery package posted to island where only feral cows live”
—BBC

Swona’s cows, it appears, want to wear
Women’s trainers and ordered a pair
Of size fives: fact allows
No alternative—cows
Are the only inhabitants there!

by Dan Campion

“Robert Redford, Screen Idol Turned Director and Activist, Dies at 89”
—The New York Times

Yes, handsome. Hawthorne might have said
Too handsome for this world.
Yet, eighty-nine years! Accolade
On accolade! Hair curled

Just so, swept, really, like a hint.
That smile. That Sundance hat.
Those candid eyes of oceans’ tint.
Roy Hobbs’s glove and bat.

An idol of the marketplace,
Totemic, in his prime,
Of course, he had a classic face.
But faces yield to time.

So Robert crafted subtler plays
For beauty to succeed,
And they survive beyond his days,
Friends to a world in need.

by Paul Lander

“Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, found chimpanzees eating fermented fruit
in their native habitats consume the equivalent of nearly two alcoholic drinks per day.”
—UPI

Gulp, two drinks a day.
Banana daiquiris—duh.
Cheers! I’ll drink to that.