BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT

by J.D. Smith



Someone may have wondered
How much does a mountain weigh?

There was no great balance to set it on,
no human scale, but the question
could be divided, layers taken and tallied
with rounding of inevitable error.

Perhaps the only way to pay for this answer
was to sell off the resulting heaps
of shorn stone and dust,

which some believed
would lighten, if not the earth,
our passage over it.


J.D. Smith’s third collection, Labor Day at Venice Beach, will be published later this year, as will his first humor collection, Notes of a Tourist on Planet Earth. His poems have appeared in journals and sites including 99 Poems for the 99 Percent, Nimrod, Tar River Poetry, Texas Review, and Dark Mountain 3.

PROTEST CONTEST

by The Bangkok Bards
Charles Frederickson & Saknarin Chinayote

 

Dizzy dysfunctional globe rotating counterclockwise

Unnatural disasters undermining climate change

Iffy topsy-turvy meteor illogical forecast

Gyroscopic spin out of control

 

Gay marriage scared straight mirage

Supreme Court deliberations wrongly rightist

Bribe & groom inequitable morals corruption

Legitimate answers out ovda question

 

Anti-social network disconnected jobless youth

Uncivil war wages out-profiting peace

Uncommon cause mass insanity slaughter

Mindfully hidden out of sight

 

Fracking has changed game-plan favoring

Wind generation solar sun power

Unnatural NRG policies oily motives

Running-on-running out of gas

 

Incorporated stealthy wealthy unlimited greed

Wall Street versus Main Street

Marching to different drummer percussion

Dissonant voices out of tune

 

Outlandish aliens second class non-citizens

Wheeler-dealer Americano roulette losing gambit

Lesser humanimals lowly snake eyes

Tarot misfortune out of luck

No Holds Bard Dr. Charles Frederickson and Mr. Saknarin Chinayote proudly present YouTube mini-movies @ YouTube – CharlesThai1 .  

ARE YOU BEING SERFED?

by James Cronin

Image source: Occupy Sandy Relief

Power lines await the squall.
Climate, hotter and wetter,
plays its part. Which is better,
trim the trees or let them fall?

The boss, moneyed, payday sees,
(too many workers will rile
the market) and so with guile
says trim the costs not the trees.

Oil barons who led BP,
joining moguls making mints,
put profits first then repent,
cutting corners kills at sea.

Shadow bankers weave and bob,
sales of swindles yet unpriced
making millions, what a heist!
Who’d suspect an inside job?

One party’s solons, knowing
nothing, pitch to rustic fools:
lower taxes, skewer rules,
keep the fracking oil flowing.

Damn teachers and their unions,
cops, firemen too; who needs them?
Workers should find their bottom,
picking grapes or green onions.

Health care lies can work once more.
Use some fibs and bull feces,
let the old die in pieces.
Stuck with vouchers? Don’t get sore.

Who knows best? The top percent.
Laid off workers need not frown,
Swiss bank wealth will trickle down.
The homeless can save on rent.

Pledge all to that man Grover;
backed by billions, he can grin.
Gut the country? It’s no sin,
“starve the beast” ‘til it’s over.

Like lemmings attempting flight,
or dogs in sad distemper,
folks fall free, not a whimper.
The day’s sold, who’ll price the night?


After a four decade career in the law, both as a lawyer and as a juvenile court judge, James Cronin is enjoying his retirement pursuing literary studies and creative writing.