2024’s Eve 

What comes in 2024

we do not know so quaff our cup.

But we won’t care what is in store

until we sober up.

 

 Worry {Satori Haiku}            

To worry is wrong,

a moment’s thought is too long...

concern can prolong.

                                                                   Christmas Day 

Gift wraps are off. The meal consumed

and seasoned with both love and cheer.

Pray Season’s magic will preserve

our love throughout the coming year.

                                      by: James E. Cox

 

 

                       My Poetry Is Me         

When you are reading my poetry,

you discover the soul of me.

You learn what is stored in my heart

and when you read my soul’s set free.   

 

                                                                   Daydreams 

Now and then the mind brings to view,

short sagas of life that shaped and honed you.

And if you can't find a knight or a sage,

take heart, my friend, your story's not through.

 

                   Good Morning!

Good morning to my special friends.

I pray our friendship never ends.

For when we share our thoughts each day,

joy and solace always blends.

 

Janus

(Namesake of January)

 

           How often we like Janus gauge.

            How oft we seem to lose our page.

            In Yore and our vague tomorrow,

            we will wallow in our sorrow,

            when this day’s trials we must assuage.

 

            I posted this poem as my Catalina

            Mountain Lodge January Bugle.

 

Happiness {Satori Haiku}

Strive for happiness!

Find a way to stress repress...

you’ll achieve success.

 

         Surrounded

Beset on van, and flank, and rear.

Best sting! And teach your foes to fear.

Dare them to risk another fray,

once they sense that their bier stands 

near.                                                                                                                

 

 

Season’s Greetings

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

At Christmas time, our thoughts oft stray

to those we wish are by our side.

But whether close or faraway,

know in our hearts you still abide.

{To kith and kin}

                                                Jim and Pat Cox

 

Fame

Fame’s brief, like the meteor’s flame

You catch the right eye, there’s acclaim;

But should your fickle fortune blink,

the flare is reduced to arcane.

 

Worry {Satori Haiku}            

To worry is wrong,

a moment’s thought is too long...

concern can prolong.

Adversity{Satori Haiku}

 Treat adversity

like repulsive tragedy...

best use your esprit. 

•  Cyrano de Bergerac {by Edmond Rostand}

 

Lessons flow from Cyrano.

I would, I could be him.

He’d brook no blow from crass ego

from those who injured at a whim.

 

He’d draw his sword upon wrong word

to still the haughty tongue.

He’d state in rhyme what was the crime

and after the verse he stung.

 

Oh Cyrano! I do, like you,

for lines that flow within my heart.

You send a message to imbue

that bullies must not fear impart.

{But I use quill instead of swords,

and my poems fight now with words.}

                        The Past

History containing the written word

may just be a guess some data has stirred.

Treat it as fiction that is based on fact...

it may be the truth or the author has erred. 

 

                                                            The Coin Toss

                                        Best take some  time, for you should wait.

Each choice deserves least brief debate.

The coin soon tossed high in the air,

can bind you to a fickle fate.

 

 

          Satori {Zen Awakening}

Sudden enlightenment

that a bard needs to vent.

He sends it to the world

to make his soul content.

 

Bona Fides

When your life is fraught with danger,

never trust it to a stranger.

Demand the proper bona fides,

lest you heed what felons augur.

 

Life’s End {Satori Haiku}

No one knows life’s end,

 when they’ll be judged in heaven...

ensure God’s rules now blend.

My  Life  As Poet

When I reflect on adult life,

I thank God for my plaudits stored.

For when ennui brings with it strife,

acclaim can bring back sweet accord. 

Applause can light my darkest days

and will protect me from malaise.

 

 

To The Athletes

As I watch television games

and see the action there,

I must admire that you compete

with all the pressure you must bear,

all of your efforts to excel,

all the pain from muscles torn.

Are all of the honors that you seek

fair payment for the load you’ve borne?

And when you wake to face your foes,

your body aching, mind in stress,

you rise to face the cruel throes

your opponent may soon express.

Win, or lose, you’ll awe the throng

and prove your strength of will is strong.

 

 

Elections

Some pols easily will forget

the voters are the ones who vet.

If pols do not fulfill their needs,

votes make them pay for misdeeds.

(Best those pols consider and note

its voters needs they must promote.)

Patience {Satori Haiku

Peace, patience can bring

composure to start waxing...

hence comes relaxing.

 

              Gilded Lies

A gilded fact can mask a lie.

On such deceit, do not rely.

Pols, red or blue, take what they say

but pause, challenge, and verify.

 

Opportunity

The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;

the optimist, opportunity in every difficulty.

                                                                L.P. Jacks

                           Modern Art 

In my youth, all art relaxed me...

the Arts found in every form.

They seemed to let my Chi fly free,

serenity became the norm.

Now critics strive to reach new heights...

 left peace and calm afar.

I now find there are few delights

for spam now rules, not caviar.

 

Fables {Satori Haiku}

Fables from the past

often are but lies amassed...

nonsense should be cast.

 

Infrastructure {2018}

Trump bragged about his new tax laws,

but failed to note their major flaws.

It pays the debt pols owe the rich...

while infrastructure rots and falls.

 

Half Truths

Know! A half-truth is a lie,

if facts and falsehoods do ally.

If you cannot glean facts from chaff,

hold not the author’s logic nigh.

(For most pols let the lie apply.)

 

                               Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin, your fame has spread

from man of strength to man to dread.

Misuse of strength is tyranny...

but your Ukraine war is lunacy.

 

 

The Weather {Satori Haiku} 

Solve our climate change!

Do not let our planet die...

fools, the facts deny.

 

Charity

Charity has many forms, and none of them unpleasant.

A bow, a smile, and food that’s warm aids a starving peasant.

Alms may often but save the day, when spent, whence comes next meal?

No, you must lift them to their feet, and aid past harm to heal.

 

Diary of a Changing World

Read each Monday Paper,

and learn about our suffering earth,

Humans are guilty of the climate change,

and now we must prove our genuine worth.

It is time politicians now awake

and control earth’s problems for Man-kinds sake.

 

            Future Harmony

When we reached senior age,

my wife and I prepared to leave life’s stage.

We paid for a Will for our family

to ensure they all live in harmony.

But, we worry about their future life.

Trump’s GOP will bring this nation strife....

 we now pray to God we can live to solve.

And our future votes will all strife dissolve.

 

                           Braggadocio

 

Trump speaks with braggadocio

and tries his best to buffalo.

But, when he lies to emphasis,

he kills the seeds that he would sow.

Marriage {Satori, Haiku}

Marriage of equals!

No partner can dominate...

and liberty be great.

                                 Taxes

 I am forced to use the short form

 each time I sum my tax.

Deductions are quite minuscule

 'cause that's how pols made my share wax.

They said my tax will not increase,

but taxes rise... yearly they fleece.

 Congress

My countrymen we should abhor

how pols help wounded from their war...

some heap on praise, but help them more.       

 

A fraud will set all rules aside,

and honor's code will not abide.

We must negate that evil state,

and do our best to turn the tide.

 

          Israel and Hamas

It seems the brazen media

has given the bad news a twist...

after many good people died,

Hamas will not desist.

The media can’t pick the winner...

for Israel loosed cannon and gun,

and the real war has now begun.

 

Trials

What is happening to justice?

Is trial by your peers meaningless

 if lawyers choose those steered by puppeteers?

Both sides are given the same facts

and then debate begins.

 It is strange that different tacks

decide who sinks or swims.

Observers find the jury’s choice

of either ”pro” or “con”

 leaves them unsure that truth prevailed

… or best orator won.

The Don Runs Again!

Since again you will run for President,

 you must reason extremely infantile.

 Nearly half the people do not like you,

and their votes will not tolerate your guile.

All the promises you made with good intents;

however, never ever did commence.

 

                 A Lifetime of Decisions

So many times as I am growing old,

I think about the times that I was bold.

All problems would demand a decision,

and few seemed to have earned a revision.

As an octogenarian to date,

I have managed to manage a just fate.  

 

Bliss {Satori Haiku}

Life brings joy and pain.

Soul, skill and wit wax and wane...

love can bliss maintain.

 

                              Maga Pols:

Maga Pols have their axe to grind,

and not advise you where to find

the answers for our country’s ills.

They all back The Don, not mankind.

 

                        The Physicist

Since I retired answers wasted away.

I can always find answers in the books

I had saved before I retired that day...

but the proper book is where one looks.

 

Trump’s Government Shutdown

Must we endure The Don’s GOP

because for his crimes may be found guilty?

The Don declared he will attack all foes...

 a shutdown would be their catastrophe.  

 

Sickness {Satori Haiku}

When you feel you ail

and find your brain seems to fail...

vigor must prevail.

 The Mafioso Don

All of those many lies that Trump has told,

and those scores of threats he has proposed,

should make all voters, red pols and base

know with The Don they embrace disgrace.

 The Gods

Most lands have had their Gods,

and most have lasted many years.

Some Gods had large families

who helped their people with their fears...

others made their people slaves.

Our God, here in the USA,      

protected from excessive strife,

and guided me throughout my life.

 

                                   Time

As sun now sets and Time transmutes

that which you see He oft confutes.

When you delay one tic, or more,

watch gray hues reign as He permutes.

                    History

 Each tic in time makes facts turn gray,

just look at history.

The longer that the pieces lay

we find a mystery.

Just look at history

 of Man of dinosaurs and such...

we find a mystery

 of who was there to tell us much.

 Of Man, of dinosaurs and such

 o’er time we find just bone

of who was there to tell us much

 and say what seeds were sewn.

 O’er time we have just bone.

Each tic in time makes facts turn gray

 to say what seeds were sewn...

 the longer that the pieces lay.

 

US Constitution {Satori Haiku}

Pols must not abuse

US Constitution rules...

or make them vamoose.

                      Into the Blue

What does it mean when one says he is blue?

 Do colors define the state of the mind?

Must then we describe the shade or the hue?

And what is said if you speak to the blind?

One could be azure, as blue as clear skies,

and end his refrain with eyes filled with tears.

Be he then happy or his heart decries

his lover’s affection now veers.

What then of turquoise or aquamarine?

They’re hues of blue and fair to behold,

but no sage nor saint would know what you mean

 if that was the aura some said he showed.

Blue hues may belong on flowers or walls

but blue on a psyche renders shortfalls.

 

                Happy Anniversary 33

You’ve been my muse since we first wed.

Your love and warmth filled head and bed.

You shared my world and poetry

and gave both life and energy.

And though the aches and pains of age

are now a part of our life’s page.

The love of my muse is now a cure,

and there is naught I can’t endure.

God bless us with many more years,

and let love buoy us through nadirs.

                                                Jim

           The Task Juggler

How many files can fill the air

before they all end in despair?

I know if  I try write these few

my soul can give them their just due.

But every task  I may add

will raise the danger, least a tad,

 that some or all will clash and fall,

and nothing will get done at all. 

 

House Speaker McCarthy

Rather than be replaced

Kevin must do what red pols ask.

He’ll let them impeach Joe Biden

though they have tried and failed the task.

The red pols run the U.S. House,

but Kevin has to fires douse.

{He may stay in charge,

but fires grow large.}

                 Disharmony

Music, and life, and poetry

should shun what breeds disharmony.

Yet, seems that critics of the arts

choose rap and crap to foist on me. \

 

Advertising

I awaken every morning

at 7 am or so.

My wife picks the TV channel

she always likes to go.

I watch the programs, mute the ads.

Each day I hear same, mute is goal.

 

Tales {Satori Haiku}

Tales  don’t amplify,

especially with a lie...

only truth apply.

                    

 

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.

 

 

 

          Our Nation Groans

Our Nation is now an arena

where the red attacks the blue.

Blue Pres says lets work together.

Red pols say Biden is liked by few,

he  spends too much and a loser.

Trump just wasted more for his wall...

Biden’s money has helped us all.

{Trump’s GOP bodes misery.}  

 

            Prescription Drugs

Biden has asked drug companies

to lower Medicare’s price.

It took three years,  then there were cheers,

but the red pols said nothing  nice.

Pres wants to lower more drug costs,

but red pols may refuse to aid.

{Red states will still use, yet Pres abuse...

 Trump’s anger makes red pols afraid}

 

 Amendment XIV

The Don has breached this Amendment...

as president attacked this land.

Trump used his base and small army

to force his loss to countermand.

{He is not fit to rule again...

with upright men he should not wend.}

Violent Ex-President

It is time we reconsider

all those that we elect.

Some seem to follow Lucifer,

and our country they affect.

 

The Don attacked this nation...

an act known as treason.

He lost his White House seat,

stay in control was his reason.

 

Trump has been indicted

for all misdeeds he’s done.

His mug shot for his crimes

would cause Satan to run.

 

 

The GOP Debate

Candidates vied, but none could lead.

All bragged about their past

and said the same is what we need,

but some attacked that which was cast.

Some said they’d increase fossil fuels

to help our land with gas.

They all should know that only fools

will climate change harass.

They all attacked our president

and most said they’d vote for The Don.

Despite our White House resident

is their state’s champion 

to fix roads, bridges and buildings.

 

Passion {Satori Haiku}

Control your passion!

Both love or anger ration...

with them use caution.

 

Doomsday Clock

What will we leave our progeny

that they survive this century?

Will fires, mayhem, hunger and thirst...

be memories that leave us cursed?

Let’s solve our problems here and now...

we must God’s laws to them endow.

If  we all share in brotherhood,

our kin may find their future good.

 

             TV Advertisements

When I waken in the morning

to advertisements without warning.

They raise the volume so damned high

you think a war ensues nearby.

Oft you hear a single word...

over and over your mind is stirred.

Or songs are sung, more like a scream,

ruining your very latest dream.

{I’d rather sleep a little more

than hear what the ads have in store.}

 

 

           The Arena

We compete in an arena

like the coliseum in Rome.

 The foes are just as dangerous,

and oft they strike us in our home.

With e-mail, phone or Internet...

 and obscure sword and shield,

they use but words, the foul dastards,

and probe to find a cache unsealed.

Best never leave your guard relaxed

 or perps assail your frail greenbacks.

                                                   When You Age 

No longer can I mount the heights

nor spelunk damp, dark caves.

I can no longer slalom ski

nor jump wild tanker’s waves.

 

What happened to the strength and skill

that fill my reveries?

From whence came all the phobias

that weakened so my knees?

Phobias were not there before.

I never even thought of them

until I passed through my youth’s door.

 

As now I reach a ripened age,

all feats rest  in the past,

and it becomes my hardest chore

to value deeds there cast.

But I’m aware the task I bear

each day from dawn to dark

is realize heroic acts

must be as patriarch.

 

                     Time Moves On                      

Time moves on. He can't wait

to solve that which we meditate.

Once more he writes within his book...

for some, “too soon," for most, “too late.”

 

                    Our Pols of Red

Everything the red pols pass

now fills our country with morass.

They make it hard for blue to vote

for on their future red pols dote.

Their states are split to blue impede,

so they’ll not get the votes they need.

They are the lackeys of The Don,

but indictments turn outlook wan.

{I will not ever vote for them...

I frankly hate their stratagem.}

 

                            Mafioso

When The Don condemns foes,

his pawns perceive that they must act.

Trump never has to them disclose

the what or whom his rage transact.

{The Don is still responsible

but blaming near impossible.}

 

 Anger {Satori haiku}

Control your anger!

Take care, don’t evil bestir...

best never ills spur.  

 

             The Weather

I must say I’ll never

learn to like this weather.

Every day it is too hot...

with scorching days we all are fraught.

Best we fire Mother Nature

and hire someone to weather cure.

 

         Climate Change

Man is now paying for his sins

as the planet prepares to die.

We chose to satisfy all whims,

and our world has gone awry.

We must resolve to solve our plight

as many breathe their last.

{Our doomsday nears, best quell our fears,

or Man becomes the past.}

 

 Trump’s  Arraignment

The Don will be arraigned today

to answer for his many crimes.

We soon may know what is in store...

he’s lied in court so many times.

{Let’s hope his base will take note

and no longer on him dote.}

 

           Trump Indictments

Again, Trump has been indicted

and vowed that he is “Not Guilty.”

 Trump lied o’er 30 thousand times

and thinks more lies will set him free.

He tries to use Amendment I,

but truth may negate all lies spun.

 

                                 Doomsday Clock

We’ve ruined the lands where human’s sew...

polluted seas where food would grow.

We must take stock and watch the clock...

our planet’s sick, must cure bestow.

It’s time that Man shares brotherhood,

and everyone works for the good.

{Let Man now solve this plight

and better do it fast and right.}

 

 

Red Pols

I can not vote for a red pol

if they’re part of The Don’s cabal.

He runs the group like mafia,

and caps should bare a swastika.

They do not care about his crimes...

his base has saved them many times.

Goals (Satori haiku)

Always have a goal!

Floundering has no control...

chaos vexes soul.

 

RINOs

The Don calls them RINOs

if he believes they don’t obey.

Republicans In Name Only

are his red pols who don’t agree.

I wish they were mixed within his base

and would say “No”  when asked for cash.

If  they could grasp all his mistakes

The Don’s world would quickly crash.

 As I Age

Each morning, as I awaken,

I thank God for another day

for my life is still not done...

heaven I pray I’ll stay someday.

 

2024 Election

When  The Don runs in ‘24

he’ll get “No Vote” from me.

He told us what we have in store

when in control of our country.

He will release all those in jail

who aided in his coup.

Then all his foes he will assail

and punishment issue.

The USA will fade away...

will be run like Vladimir.

Forever will this Putin stay

and rule with severe fear.

 

Leaders {Satori Haiku}

When leaders don’t lead,

just gratify all their greed...

your vote must impede.

 

                                                                              To Trump

If "Victimless Crime" be your plea,

don't look here for sympathy.

To breach a law that's good and just,

affects Man's essence cap-a-pie.