II
One struggles to breathe
Evenly; to rise without
Stagger, knee pain wince.
The cruelest affliction?
Wounded lust, limpness and sag.
(6/30/11)

Deregulation—
Libertarianism—
Frees them—sucks us dry!

Egyptian turmoil!
When the ashes cool, what then?
Corruption ends? Sure!

Our guns, guaranteed,
Each year reap thirty thousand.
That’s what guns are for.

Corruption, old grease
Lubricating governance—
Let’s find purer oil.

With mind at empty,
Haiku form allows some verse—
Illusory poems.
               (1/30/11)

There once was a man named Barack
Who placed “change” and “hope” back on track.
When push came to shove
He donned tattered gloves,
And utterly failed to shove back.

Though principled, our man Barack,
Envisioned that he could be whacked;
Since elections depend
On funds without end,
He kow-towed to flush plutocrats.

Obama created a zone
With rhetoric bright and high-flown.
We wept at his speeches,
Then found they were feces,
Since promises have no tailbone.
                (12/17/10)

Obama, Barack is his name,
We armed him with power and fame—
We should have foreseen
Wealth grow more obscene,
Since money’s the name of the game!
               (12/19/10)

Morality struggles with wealth,
But rich men are masters of stealth—
They finance both sides,
Hence whoever abides,
Attend to the rich folks’ good health.
               (12/19/10)

Political rhet’ric’s malarkey,
Suggesting that views differ starkly—
No matter the spin,
We get what we’ve been:
Base plutocratic oligarchy.
               (12/20/10)

Politics sure can be funny—
Even make Washington sunny—
The Start Treaty’s sell
And repealing “don’t tell”—
Why not? They cost us no money
                (12/22/10)

If you kill yourself—
Declaring your Muslim faith—
But ate pork sausage,
Does that debit your virgins
In the Garden of Allah?
                (11/27/10)

Apathetic souls
Professing rich faithfulness
Do not qualify
For fierce, hot carnal pleasure
Unless they kill multitudes.
                (11/27/10)

If you had on Earth
Just one writhing non-virgin,
Would that satisfy,
Preserve lives, save innocents,
Relieve those airy virgins?
                (11/27/10)

Marriage, Christ taught us,
Does not exist in heaven.
But Muslims object,
Surrender their earthly lives—
Lusting for angelic wives!
                (11/29/10)

But markets abound in this nation,
And nothing that’s sold is now rationed.
Advertisements lie,
Bewitch us to buy
Like numbskulls, through rich obfuscation.

Stop law-makers and their strict codes
Let markets construct business modes
End regulation,
Promote innovation—
Let Pintos, when crashed, just explode.

Supply and demand are solutions!
And rules will promote revolution!
Thailand and Brazil
(Perhaps somewhat ill)
Make fortunes from child prostitution.

Progressives (Von Mises explains)
Stunt freedom, and damage the game.
But it’s not regulation
That screws up the nation—
It’s people in charge we should blame.

Enhance economic morale
By chanting Von Mises’ chorale:
Let marketplace greed
Determine our needs
With shootouts at OK Corrals.
                  (5/29/10)

Gods and governments—
Foul irrepressible source
Of pain, death, despair!
             (5/22/10)

At the horizon
A line divides navy sea
From puffed azure sky.
Serene seabirds shriek and glide,
But cannot pause this world’s boil.
                (5/22/10)

Back pain is unique.
You cannot lie, sit, or rise
With impunity.
Flame-red pokers sear your flesh,
Honed knives stab, perform murder.
                   (5/24/10)

Those Bangkok red-shirts—
If they prevail, will that change
My Thai noodle spice?

Holy Taliban
Kill praying foes in hushed mosques—
Allah, are you there?

Financial crisis?
No problem! Bank profits soar.
Rejoice! End times loom.

A Persian mullah
Blames earthquakes on scantily
Dressed women because
They corrupt men, while handsome
Men (god knows) never stir girls!
                       (4/21/10)

Flirtatious birds flit—
Stalking cats misunderstand—
Unrequited love!

Cats, obsessed with birds,
Fret, constrained by gravity—
Unfair: cats can’t fly!

Slit-eyed cats can climb
But birds read dark feline hearts—
Tempt—then flick away.

Birds would like to stay,
Play tag, mix it up—but can’t!
Cats play much too rough.
                     (3/10/09)

Crows, like ravens, caw!
But only stately ravens
Predict: “NEVERMORE!”

Though rodents disgust,
Rabbits, despite overbite,
Charm—long ears, puffed tails.

Strange creatures abound—
Platypus, eel, giraffe, squid,
Plus the long-eared hare.
(2/26/09)

Turtles swim the seas,
Tortoises gallumph on land—
Weird dichotomy.

Lethargic tortoise—
Unambitious, carapaced—
Lives for centuries!

Though slow, they’re steady,
These tortoises, and race well!
Doubters? Ask the hare.
(2/27/09)

Politicians jest,
Excoriate, mock, score points.
But what principle,
Philosophy, theory,
Informs “lipstick on a pig”?

Three pigs built houses.
Two, unfamiliar with wolves,
Their huffing, puffing,
Owe their lives to a brother
Acquainted with rigid bricks.

Pork Haiku

Pigs have their uses.
They snuffle and snout the ground,
Uncover truffles!

Eerie idioms?
A pig in a poke, perhaps,
Or in a pig’s eye.

Charlotte, a spider
Publicist, lobbied to save
The prize pig Wilbur.
                 (2/16/09)