Sober lessons from John Edwards’ fall;
In Praise of Mayberry Days

A Relay Race Disgrace
Sober lessons from John Edwards’ fall

The relay race where honor’s passed
from dads to kids need not be fast.
What matters most is making sure
that stick is safely grabbed.

John Edwards tripped and fell from grace.
He DQed in the relay race.
He dropped the prized baton of trust
and shattered even more.

Olympic gold will be denied
because of ego, lust and pride.
A one-night stand that lasted months
unraveled many years.

This one who ran for president
deceived his wife without a hint
that what he promised with a ring
caved to adultery.

Imagine if he’d won the nod.
His ease in lying (help him, God)
would mean he could betray our trust
and hide behind “that smile.”

But do you know what’s even worse?
It is the cheating father’s curse.
John’s children will forever rue
their daddy’s dropped baton.

So, fathers, heed John Edwards’ fall.
Resist temptation’s costly call.
Don’t risk DQing in a race
your kids need you to win.
 

A bonus poem on a happier note…

In Praise of Mayberry Days
Pining for what Andy Griffith took for granted

I long for days of whistling
like Opie Taylor had.
Those lazy days of riding bikes
and fishing with my dad.

I miss the old time barbershop
where barbers just like Floyd
would treat you like you were a king
and rarely get annoyed.

I still can taste those homemade pies,
the kind that Aunt Bea made.
Remember concerts in the park
while sipping lemonade?

I pine for what defined my youth
like drugstore fountain Cokes
or watching black and white TV
and Burns and Allen’s jokes.

I wish we could rewind the tape
and live that time again.
When pot was what you used for soup
and women married men.

Mayberry Days. That’s what they’re called.
Those simple peaceful days.
When life was not what it is now…
a stress-filled, fast-paced maze.

On Maya Angelou and the caucuses

Poetry in Motion
What Maya Angelou is blind to.

Hey Maya, why ya choosin Hill?
Is it because you’re friends with Bill?.
Your sister Oprah wants to know
why you don’t want her man.

A black man in the White House should
be what you’d want. (I’d think it would.)
And furthermore Obama rhymes
with more than Clinton does.

I know you read your poetry
when Bill was sworn in ’93,
when first Hill was the First Lady.
But now it’s Bama’s turn.

Barak deserves your deep dark voice.
So come on, Maya. Change your choice.
He’s poetry-in-motion, girl.
And handsome. Boy, oh boy.

Dancing with Our Candidate
Kicking up our caucusing heels.

A caucus can be raucous.
It’s cause we have a say.
We’ve each a voice to state our choice
and speak up for our way.

This is a time to cross the line
allowed to change our minds
when what we hear make it quite clear
that we had been quite blind.

The Stars and Stripes give us the right
to caucus and campaign
for candidates we think are great
in local schools and lanes.

Democracy means you and me
dare not ignore the chance
to make a case and then embrace
the one with whom we’ll dance.

Barack Obama is a Christ-follower

Obama’s not bin Laden,
a Muslim or a spy.
Barack professes Christian faith
although his critics try

to make folks think he’s just a wolf
who wears lambskin and wool.
But check the facts. It’s all a lie.
His slanderers are fools.

And though I’m a Republican
and resonate with Mike,
Obama gives me cause for pause.
There’s something that I like.

Not so with screechy Hillary.
I just can’t stand her voice.
So if you are a Democrat,
I’m glad you have a choice.

Remembering a King and a President

This week we honored Martin King
recalling how he served
the poor, deprived and dispossessed
denied what they deserved.
We’re grateful, Lord, for patriots
who stand for what You will,
who dare to do whate’er it takes
to conquer culture’s ills.

And, Lord, we’re mindful of the fact
we’ve still a ways to go.
In forty years since Martin’s death,
our progress has been slow.
Please guide us, God, and bless our land
in spite of all its flaws.
Please lead our sitting President
and those who make our laws.

(the above can be sung to the tune of America the Beautiful)

Asking hard questions on MLK’s birthday

A day fit for a King
is crowned by questions
that don’t fit the prestigious nature
of our political process.
Isn’t it?

What do you think?

Will Martin’s dream
become Hillary’s nightmare?

Will a fairytale assertion by Bill
result in a storybook ending for Barack?

Will the 79th anniversary
of Dr. King’s birth
prove our society is still as sick
as it was in the Sixties?

Will this campaign
become a race riddled by
racial insinuations?

Will the content of its character
be colored by mudslinging
and dirty tricks.

Wouldn’t a great birthday gift
for the good doctor
be an agreement by those running
to start walking in a manner
that honors his memory?

Well, wouldn’t it?

Exploring the injustices of L A mayor’s affair

What once took place has now again.
It’s David and Bathsheba’s sin.
The L A mayor had a tryst
with someone not his wife.

She was a young attractive thing
and he (with power like a king)
was helpless when it came to lust
and broke his wedding vows.

Amazingly, his life went on.
But not so for the one he’d wronged.
She was suspended from her job
and wore a scarlet “A.”

Imagine in this “P C” day
that justice could be raped that way.
It’s just not fair that women pay
while men get off scot free.

But that’s the way it’s always been.
There’s never equity with sin.
The pleasure soon gives way to pain
unevenly dispersed.

For in the case of David’s error
Bathsheba’s baby wasn’t spared.
And though a gold crown still was his,
his mistress dressed in black.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the nation…

Apart from steamy L A news,
it’s blazing in the south.
The Midwest’s buried by the rains
and flooded river mouths.

And though Dean spared the Texas coast,
there’re more where he came from
with deadly winds that pack a punch
to blow us kingdom come.

The Weather Channel spells it out.
But weather does us in.
Dear Lord, please calm the summer storms
and cool us down. Amen.