See the rates, are they rising?
Hear the experts surmising.
Recession is here, or else we’ve steered clear.
Wand’ring in a winter wonder-when.
Rates are high now for int’rest.
Will they fall? Who can squint best
To see what’s in store – a ceiling or floor.
Wand’ring in a winter wonder-when.
Hear the Bank of Canada’s pronouncement.
Wonder what the oracle is saying.
Muse about just what the latest bounce meant.
Should we cheer or just continue praying?
Up or down, that’s the question.
See the pundits’ congestion.
The rates may soon fall. Or fall not at all.
Wand’ring in a winter wonder-when.
* * * * *
Goad king Elon Musk looked out
On the bones of Twitter.
Sent all goodwill up the spout,
Spawned a rabid critter.
Called it X, which marks the spot
Where the engine sputtered.
Will X last? Depends on what
Musk has lately uttered.
* * * * *
You’d better not twist. You’d better not lie.
They’ve tossed aside that Pinocchio guy.
Santos’ cause has come crashing down.
Whoever he met, he strung them along.
George Santos told fibs the size of King Kong.
Santos’ cause has come crashing down.
The House of Reps decided
His scandals were de trop.
Republicans and Democrats
Voted Munchhausen must go.
The Speaker said wait, we need him on board,
But down on the floor the fibber was floored.
Santos’ cause has come crashing down.
* * * * *
False T the showman
Was a very lucky soul.
Other folks might quail at the thought of jail,
But he tops poll after poll.
False T the witness
Had the judges in a rage.
He would do a dance with his outsized rants,
Treating courtrooms as his stage.
There must have been some manic in
That orange hair he wore,
For though he’s clearly off his head
Fans adore him more and more.
False T the showman
Gets a boost from Biden’s age.
May the public tire
Of his cagy ire
Once he’s sentenced to a cage.
* * * * *
Jingle bells,
Taylor sells,
Ranks of Swifties grow.
Oh what fun it is to try
To get into her show. Go!
Panic mode:
Crack the code:
Stay online for hours.
Beg and plead – you really need
Some superhuman powers.
* * * * *
Oh conned, all ye faithful
Bet the farm on crypto.
Now they’ve jailed Bankman-Fried
For stealing their dough.
All those transactions
Vanished in a heartbeat.
Oh crumbs, the vault is empty.
His actions were perempt’ry.
We trusted in the se-entry.
He-eist deplored.
* * * * *
Putin, the ruthless raider,
Has a very shady goal:
Bring back the Soviet Union.
Make the former empire whole.
All of the Russian people
Hear Ukraine described as bad.
That’s how the propaganda
Keeps in charge the power-mad.
When one near or distant eve
This fight is resolved,
Hope that Putin’s brought to trial
Answering for actions vile.
Till then, the world keeps watching,
Horrified at what it sees.
Putin, relentless raider,
Growing harsher by degrees.
* * * * *
Oh, the weather outside is frightful.
You’d think that nature’s spiteful,
For no matter which place you go,
Let-ups? No. Let-ups? No. Let-ups? No.
If you haven’t been swamped by floods,
Chances are there will be a drought.
If the hurricane fears are duds,
There’ll be blazes to put out.
Though the views on what’s happ’ning differ,
Costs of battling it seem stiffer.
And we’d wager the costs will grow.
Let-ups? No. Let-ups? No. Let-ups? No.
* * * * *
On the nth day of crisis,
The news relayed to me:
Shelved talks of ceasefire,
Leaden aid responses,
Tentative meetings –
Nein, they’ve been cancelled,
Hate running rampant,
Severed lines of talking,
Sick of the carnage,
Fire, counter-fire.
For ev’ry glimpse
We get of
Too-troubled times,
There’s a part still banking on peace.
* * * * *
Once in roiling Covid’s sights, you
Have a lonely time ahead.
As each symptom sharply bites, you
Stagger in and out of bed.
Sitting there with just one aim:
You obsess on who to blame.
Was it Jack, who left his mask off?
Or that after-hockey bunch?
Was it Carolina’s brass cough?
What about that crowded lunch?
Was it Jill, who had to sneeze –
Blamed it on her allergies?
* * * * *
Go test ye more automatons.
Self-driving cars are cool.
At least till what they think’s the road
Is someone’s swimming pool.
They brake for nothing and get hit –
It’s one big April fool.
Oh, time may eliminate the quirks.
Hope the thing works.
Oh-h, send it out and see what danger lurks.
* * * * *
Joey to the world –
The kangaroo
Escaped her handler’s grasp.
The creature’s need
For lightning speed
Ensured a good nature fling,
Ensured a good nature fling,
Unti-il, unti-i-il
They spiked her spring.
* * * * *
Silent blight.
Do not bite
At each wild
Online site.
Loose conspiracies
Dangled like bait.
Who retwe-eets these
Parcels of hate?
Nonsense packaged as headlines.
Bra-ace for ev’ry new spate.
* * * * *
Deck the halls with vows of housing.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Pledges, statements, there for browsing.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
We will build to house the many.
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
Details? Well, we don’t have any.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
See the blaze of P.R. handouts.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Concrete plans, well, they’re not standouts.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Blocks to permits, zoning hassles,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
Work against erecting castles.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
* * * * *
Away in a manger
Or out on the street,
The homeless in danger
Of nights without heat.
Who knows what the price is?
We all wring our hands.
And meanwhile the crisis
Expands and expands.
* * * * *
The Barbie and the bio
Were very tightly bound.
With Oppenheimer, Barbie proved
Hit films could still be found.
The bomber and the doll set
Box offices alight.
One saw the world in lovely pink,
The other in bright white.
– Warren Clements