This Eve’s Toast

I will welcome the new year,

but pray the babe that’s new

will be much better parented

than babe this year went through.

 

Pols tending the babe and planet

made very big mistakes.

They argued all the time,

and gave our world heartaches.

 

To teach new baby what is right,

let’s practice peace from day of birth,

and let him find the value of

how much Man’s peace is worth.

 

A Toast for 2023

What comes in 2023

right now is just a mystery.

But we can raise our glass and pray

that many ills may fade away.

 

Astrology {Terza Rima Haiku}

Heed Astrology!

Believe what planets forecast?

They are too iffy.

 

 

New Year Fear

My usual resolutions,

like what I vowed in New Years past

found habits have poor solutions

for those that I chose failed to last.

And, I now find my aging mind

has affected my memory.

So, I now pray those traits maligned

may fade and set my conscience free.

 

 

                              Christmas

To thank God for his son this day

learn His commandments and obey.

They are but ten with equal weight

but also address, never hate.

Remember this “Thou shall not kill”

and all the rest with love fulfill.

Exercise

I have been told to walk each day,

it will help feet and heart.

But, if that is true, I must say

walking must be some unknown art.

I find when feet and heart compete

the result but defines defeat.

 

 

 

Poetry {Tercet Haiku} 

Poems oft memoirs.

A mind’s valet once written...

mindsets unlock doors.

 

                                  Winter

The morrow will bring us winter...

till spring my hands and feet will freeze.

The chill may make the skiers stir...

but I’ll just hibernate with ease.

 

Success (Tercet Haiku)

First! Success in what?

Then note, must seek achievement...

accept nothing but!

My Christmas Gifts

My children live quite far away,

the U.S. mail is Santa’s sleigh.

It’s been the same for many years

and happily brings smiles and tears.

I send a check to let them choose

to buy a want, or ills defuse.

A card,  made by my wife and me,

is filled with love and poetry.

We send the same to all our friends...

without a check. just our love wends.

 

GOP Angry

Strange! Red pols claim the blue

cheated them from winning.

when they had tried to screw

votes of blue from the beginning.

{When cheaters lose they earn the bruise.}

 

Pols Fail, Prevail.

Strange! When pols fail to win

some opt to be a lobbyist.

They’ll get dark money and can grin...

the felons still will coexist.

 

Tercet Haiku

When ill, best be shrewd.

Get your mind in correct state...

few meds, healthy food.

 

 Medicine Ads

Some cures today in time found false.

What once embraced make some convulse.  

If prince or toad, we rarely know

 till some consumers have no pulse.

 

The Don, Done! {Zen Amen}

Parents taught you wrong.

Soon in jail where you belong...

maybe for lifelong.

 

Celebrity Calamity

It is a shame when those who rise

to their profession’s highest rung

are oft exposed to scrutiny

to puerile lives when young.

 

When beyond the sophomoric years

and their  maturity is reached,

how few do not look back, find fears

 they can not have that record bleached.

{They have their claim to history,

yet fools would cause them misery.}

 

He Who Would Serve

{Herschel Walker, etal}

We really should a test impose

on all would-be politicos.

Both age and birth, a sorry gauge,

when bad logic shows they’re locos.

 

If were never asked to prove if sane…

no tests displayed if a lamebrain.

They merely show they can get votes…

to vote for them would be inane.

 

Problem Solve {Zen}

Knowledge is crucial.

It matters not sex or age...

learn to ills assuage.

A Loser’s Lament

Dame Fortune seems to know no math,

nor how to treat an acolyte.

She must be some damned sociopath...

or she just isn't erudite.

 

I call her name as wheel spins,

as cards are dealt, or dice are thrown...

and every time another wins...

and my recourse is curse and moan.

 

It matters not she bends the odds

to help some novice become rich,

but after all these wayward nods...

I best from Lady Luck now switch.

 

 

 

Life’s Race

It's time that you now stop to face

all efforts lost within Life's race.

For tomorrow, and each morrow,

best try to win, or show, or place.

 

Happy Thanksgiving

For what can I be thankful

when I peruse the news?

Our world is filled with suffering

and terrorism brews.

 

I’m thankful I’m American

where freedoms are assured.

I’m thankful for my kith and kin

whose love o’er time endured.

 

I thank God when I wake,

regardless how I ache.

And, hopefully, at dawn

papers say our problems are gone.

 

                                                      Thanksgiving

                                          Thanksgiving was proclaimed

in seventeen and eighty-nine.

George Washington declared we thank

He who is divine.

The Pilgrims had joined together

that they could celebrate

to thank their God for the harvest

that would their hunger slake.

 

Know we also should be thankful

what God provides each day…

sustainable and spiritual

manna along our way.

 

 

Don’t Forget the Vets

My countrymen we should abhor

pols who will send our youth to war.

Then wounded vets when they return

pols heap on praise...but must do more.

 

Trump Rerun

The Don decided to run again;

though he has lost some lackey men!

Trump still states Dems have cheated him;

just babble from a too-long whim!

The Don’s still using his MAGA chant;

which in the past he did not grant!

Trump turned on his allies;

which we all know was not wise!

See one rally, you’ve seen them all;

and his lies are filled with gall!

You may think that I don’t like the guy;

I’d rather I could yell him ”Bye ”!

 

 

{Zen-The Way}

Fear of Failure

If you fear to fail

consider your problem well...

riposte may then quell.

 

Next Term

It’s obvious politicos

want first to keep their post.

We only ask they strive to fill

the basics we need most.

 

But oft they ask

a lobbyistshow to perform their task,

when any fool with year of school

will not the biased ask.

 

If you would keep your job next term

don’t pay for ads with hype…

impress us with good action

and forego any tripe.

 

Red Pols  Rage Rouse

Where does The Don come by such men...

too many perps in his bullpen.

Most of them think our income tax

is fare for kleptomaniacs.

 

Veterans

They had joined the army

to be of aid to our country.

They were taught to use needed skills

and asked to practice with strong wills.

They did their jobs and that is key.

They’re heroes and they’ve kept us free.

 

 

Fidelity

Before you make a solemn vow

ensure you can commit.

If you  have pledged to steer the prow,

you must press on with grit.

Some tasks may seem not viable,

yet, need but firm resolve.

If  you remain reliable,

all problems can dissolve.

 

February 2016

I've lived in Tucson eighteen years.

For all that time there was a drought.

The population has doubled,

but still there's water in my spout.

 

Each year pols ask I cut my use

or else the wells run dry.

Each year pols grant more houses built,

and pols dumb logic is awry.

{From my CD, Return To The Past}

 

April 2013 {From my CD, Return To The Past.}

Immigration {Not Always Bad}

The Immigrants here now

legally proved to all their worth.

They passed the tests agreed upon

and proved to us they earned a berth.

 

Campaign  Commercials 

Heroes! Villains! You best explore

the words declared from some press corps.

Same pol whose tongue is filled with lies

may also be truth’s carnivore.

 

The Way  {Zen}

When you have free time

learn to use your bod or mind...

they resist downtime.

 

Con Men

They are the worst of human beasts.

They scam the old with stealth.

Let‘s pray they choke upon those feasts

they buy with ill gained wealth.

From my book, All That Rhymes.

 

Congress

How oft I‘ve watched them try to cure

our country’s ills with money thrown

and see all that which has been sewn

    has helped much less than cow‘s manure.

 

                        Pristine Halloween

It is that time, All Hallows Eve,

when minds run free to make believe.

But pause that garb you choose to wear...

may bare blithe soul and no one scare.

{Let this day be gay and fear stay away!}

 

Limerick

Here is to the politico!

Don’t lie for votes, then waste our dough.

We ask that what you do

succors not only you...

or you may get the old ” Heave Ho.”

 

Dalai Lama {Morphed to Zen}

Take into account!

Great love and great achievements

can involve great risks.

Phony History 

Whenever you read history

treat it as if a mystery.

What is written may not be true

and truth is often known to few.

{Just like The Don and Putin lies

they both will truth disguise.}

 P

 

Your Future

You can influence your future

to what you deem tolerable.

But you must know you best not err

if Time must make your life blissful.

 

Remember that many morrows

for all your acts to date

have brought joy or sorrows...

morphed that you now await.

 

You can’t revise your past...

the present is held fast.

If you would affect the future,

help Time make good days last.

 

 

Laws

If laws would make the balance just,

they that leave the boundaries must

   restore more than they have despoiled

and not enriched by breaching trust.

From my book, Rubai

Humor Helps{Rhyming Senryu}

When nits get you down

try this tip, become a clown...

let the humor whelm.

 

Memoirs

When you reflect upon your life,

you may thank God for plaudits stored.

For when tedium brings you strife,

acclaim can bring back sweet accord.

 

Applause can light the darkest days.

For memoirs from your days long past

tend to ease this day’s malaise,

and may ennui to Hades cast.

 

 

Truths Embrace 

If you believe that spirits talk,

then have another drink.

If you believe the dead can walk,

you're dumber than my ex-wife's shrink.

If you believe what red pols say,

you probably would with cobras play.

 

Boredom 

When days are rough and smiles come tough,

best turn off all the ads of pols...

 just hear one lie,  you’ve heard enough,

and ennui bondage starts to grow.

 

Let your mind flee from your TV,

 and ennui’s bondage be set free.

 

A Law Absurd For Those Disturbed

I can’t believe pols pass a law

to help disturbed souls buy a gun.

Then, when our children’s lives are lost,

can’t sense this flaw must be undone.

 

Pol Taint {Rhyming Senryu}

When it’s time to vote,

denier pols should denote

they’re of minute note.

Trump’s Georgia Call

 

The Don’s talk with Raffensperger,

Georgia’s Secretary of State,

tells us how far The Don will go

with use of power to dictate.

 

Trump threatened from his catbird seat...

on his long call he did browbeat.

Some red pols said Trump had that right,

Grand Jury might The Don indict.

 

                                                                        Deception

If fraud now sets the rules aside

and honor's code will not abide,

you must negate an evil state,

and do your best to turn the tide.

 

 

 

Darkness {Senryu} 

That which was perceived...

 best in no way be deceived

by what dusk achieved.

 

 The Poet

The poet has but words for paint. 

With proper tone, he stirs sans taint.

His biggest banes are lines that rein.

His foremost fear he's formed too faint.

From my book, Rubai Gems.

 

Beautiful Sunset

This day may never come again.

Best quickly, in the mind, append.

If Time perchance efface his slate,

the bliss is lost to heedless men. 

From my chapbook, Sunset.

 

When Liars Conspire.

How can Trump and Putin be friends

for they are both noted liars?

How can they know what each portends

when they don’t know if either errs?

 

Impatience {My Ken, Zen}

Impatience, my foe,

stays with me where e’er I go...

best I tranquil grow.

 

Let Humor Wend

When problems taint with ennui blue

and set the tone for your milieu.

Let humor cast its subtle light

to tint your world an azure hue.

{From my CD, A Soupcon of Sun.}

 

The Don’s Goal

Delay of game when close to end

makes Trunp think he can send

all of his games with overtimes,

but may not work for scores of  crimes.

 

The Line Jumper

Here’s to you who breach the queue

cause you can’t wait for your just due.

Oh God, may you be hexed

to find you’re always next

while you are waiting for the loo.

 

Stay Afloat {Senryu}

When plight rides a tide,

best you try to stay afloat...

supreme antidote.

 

Humor

       Something said with humor

     can pale the darkest night.

     And the heaviest of burdens

     can swiftly become light.

     For each unraveled yarn

     that humor weaves with wit,

     reveals that if you laugh at Fear

     he’ll loose his hold a whit.

 

 

The Constitution

 

Three branches of government

our Constitution did create.

The Senate and the Supreme Court

must pray the House with all three mate.

 

And, all of the three, Trump easily

morphed some puppets that he can guide.

But smart he’s not for he forgot

by votes his ploy was nullified.

 

The Don now claims he did not lose

and with anger his Big Lie spews.

 So many times he’s proven wrong,

prison is where he does belong.

 

 

The desert is an arid waste.

Life’s liquid but a precious taste.

Yet foolish man builds there unchecked

expecting nature to keep pace.

 

The Don’s Faithful

When pols don’t seem to know the rules

are they attempting to defraud...

or are they merely stupid fools

whose minds are very flawed?

 

The Don says the last vote afoul

though found that is not true.

Some of faithful pols are bitching now

for they oft do what fools must do.

(Trump doesn’t care, they aid despair.)

 

Pat

Happy Anniversary #32

 Thirty-two years ago this day

we made the vow our love won’t end.

Though knew that oft skies can be grey

her smile and warmth could all gloom mend.

 

Over thirty years has aged us

and time made bodies wane.

But our true love will stay our plus,

and our vow still will be Time’s bane

                                                     Jim

 

It’s your life {Senryu}

Never let your course

be bound by foes or friends...

control where life wends.

 

 

Harmony

Music, and life, and poetry

should shun what breeds cacophony.

Yet seems that critics of the arts

choose rap and crap to foist on me.

                 The Quill

The quill can stroke; can wound; can cleave.

It can inspire, instruct, deceive.

A weapon with unholy force

when used to stir what fiends conceive.

 

 

Zen-U.S. Constitution

Change Amendment I!

That said must always be true...

make lying taboo!

 Labor Day

It’s just another holiday?

You should read the tale

of how the Pullman strike

made U.S. pols turn pale.

 

The government reacted

with soldiers and police.

The workers had a wildcat strike...

made commerce almost cease.

 

The Prez knew angry workers

must be mollified.

He pledged to them a holiday

to honor those that died.

 

Now Labor Day is many things

as summer fun is over.

We should cease to wear white clothes...

even your dog Rover.

 

Soon school will start, vacations end,

we picnic and have fun.

But, remember as you play,

the workforce this day won.

 

Trump MAGA Saga

Trump is no longer president,

but as The Don it’s evident.

His threats to RINO lives

make red pols fear all he contrives.

{Some choose to pose as his best friend...

pray his control anon will end.}

 

 Jim Cox has updated his poems for September 2022 on his poetry website http://allthatrhymes.squarespace.com, 

 

Rhymed Senryu-Bliss

Life brings joy and pain.

Soul, skill and wit wax and wane...

love can bliss maintain.

 

The Primaries

Primary votes are cast,

and I am quite aghast.

Same fools, I fear, who led us here

 may fail again…alas!

From my CD, Return to the Past, September, 2012

 

Visit http://jim-cox.blogspot.com to read “Gun laws.”

Permit a gun for everyone,

then pray they never abuse it.

But is this not with madness done

if in anger they may use it?

From my CD, Return to the Past, March 2011