poem of the day 07.23.10

at the all-star break

they are bickering in d.c.
over the extension of unemployment benefits

the spendthrift democrats
versus
the neglectful republicans

the same folks who got us into
this mess in the first place

in afghanistan
war lords are coming out of the woodwork
to collect protection money
from u.s. government contractors
in iraq
the shiites and sunnies
are fighting one of those never-ending wars of blood

in the gulf of mexico the oil leak in capped
but the damage had been done
the fragile ecosystem has been decimated
at least for now
and once again those katrina families
are on the brink of ruin

at the all-star break
photographers are taking pictures
of celebrities looking pretty and pretty dull
cavorting on beaches
where there are no tar balls and poverty
and each summer flick
is destined to break 100 million by the end of its run

the teachers
are being welcomed into the every-growing bread line
by the smiling faces of the new poor

i’m batting .285
in case you wanted to know
i’m down in home runs this year
up in doubles

but i’m back on the juice
so i’m hoping to hit .300 again
by the time the weather breaks in september