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WEEK OF NOVEMBER 9

by Susan McLean

The coasts are blue, the coasts are blue!
The East Coast and the West Coast, too!
Until you get to Florida,
the coasts are blue.

The sky is blue, my hopes renew,
the clouds disperse, I like the view.
The news may not grow horrider:
the coasts are blue.

The reign of the red tide is through.
Let’s see what a blue wave can do.
Let heat waves not grow torrider:
the coasts are blue.

by Brendan Beary

“Trump signs proclamation to try to prevent changes to gold-covered Oval Office”
—The Guardian

Nothing gold can stay—
The beauties one holds dear
Will all be swept aside;
The temporary’s all we ever have.

“Nothing gold can stay”
Is what we’d like to hear
From those who’d next reside
At 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

by Steven Kent

“Flávio Bolsonaro’s short-lived ‘president-elect’ claim met with mockery”
—The Guardian

It’s tough to be a potentate
(A junior one, no less)
When you’ve been forced to flee your state
And bank on Trump’s largesse.

His government-in-exile boast
May fool ’em here and there;
Brazilians, though, admit he’s toast
And doesn’t have a prayer.

Though Flávio’s a cunning lad,
His Phoenix has not risen.
Now let us pray he soon joins Dad
Back home and safe in prison.

by Julia Griffin

“Million-dollar fish caught by Darwin man ‘just fishing and talking’ at night with brother”
—The Guardian

I own I loosed a startled squawk;
It’s not that it’s suspicious
That such a wondrous fish can talk;
What’s odd is that it fishes.

by Marshall Begel

“Australia’s giant spawning eel ball estimated to contain 2.8 million eels”
—ABC

In Black Lagoon, they dance with Gill.
The lobsters host their own quadrille.
Calypso crabs may have appeal,
but no one parties like an eel!

The rhythm of the breaking waves
provides the beat for ocean raves,
and once we start we can’t resist
the swim, the shimmy, worm and twist.

We hoochie coochie on and on
until we get the urge to spawn.
So come Down Under any fall
and join us as we have a ball.

by Dan Campion

“Trump Wrestles With New Reality: A Lame Duck With Two Years Left to Fight”
—The New York Times

I’ve never liked “lame duck,” a phrase
That smacks of cruelties.
To have a “lame duck” “wrestle” flays
My sensibilities.
Despite my qualms, that headline gains
Him sympathy, inch-deep,
Which, otherwise, I would take pains
To not waste on a creep.

by Philip Kitcher

“I’d love her to join the Republican Party…”
—Donald Trump

My dear Haley,
sweet Haley,
I have prayed for you daily
that you’d shake off the Democrat dirt:
you have shown you will pay back
all the kindness of AIPAC,
now the next step must be—to convert.

You’ll recover your swagger
when you sign on to MAGA,
for your talents must not go to waste.
You will be resurrected,
since it’s clear you’ve rejected
the ideals you have always embraced.

We will dump the old codgers
like that dull Michael Rogers,
to make up for a skill that they lack:
you’re a girl with a gift
for creating a rift
that concludes—with a stab in the back.

by Steven Kent

“Trump erupted after learning of Alina Habba’s $50M deal: Angry about the scale of a contract signed by one of his former lawyers with the family of a wealthy pardon seeker, the president told allies he wanted some of the money to go to his future presidential library.”
—The New York Times

He hates when his employees sell
Their access circumspectly—
If money’s to be made, then hell,
It should be his directly!

She’s always had a nerve, real cheek,
But this time Habba blew it.
You gotta let him wet his beak—
That’s how the Dons all do it.

by Marshall Begel

“Cinema chain offers hypnosis: Forget your favorite movie and watch it for the first time again”
—Dagens.com

Rosebud was his childhood sled.
Norman’s mom was long-since dead.
HAL 9000’s code turned bad.
Vader’s Luke and Leah’s dad.
Gwynneth’s head was in the box.
Goldfinger would nuke Fort Knox.
I’ve seen it all—you can’t surprise me,
so go ahead and hypnotize me.

by Anna M. Evans

We flipped the township blue this week
and damn!—It was an epic slog.
Ten years ago, the odds looked bleak
we’d flip the township blue. This week,
what helped us break their winning streak?
Trump sucks! (We also worked like dogs.)
We flipped the township blue this week,
and it was epic! Worth the slog!