roman holiday

It was at Kitzbuhel, not Gstaad
where I saw Polanski--up close--
in a skislope cafeteria line, red snowsuit size small,
sliding slowly along the rails
a tray of wiener schnitzel mit pommes und ketchup
Like Everybody Else.

He had his two young children with him.
Like Everybody Else.

I wanted to say, "Hey, nice work on 'Chinatown'"
but didn't. As usual, faced with a celebrity icon, I fell silent.

Now I remember and think:
Do we forgive a man a heinous crime
because of his art, or because
his life has been filled with tragedy
or because he only did what everybody else
was doing in Jack and Anjelica's Casa California
or because an asshole judge lied to him
or because the French crypto-intelligentsia
says it must be so?

Maybe. But probably not.

gauche caviar

"Is Socialism dead?" my morning headline so screams.
Europe's Left can't get anything right, it seems.
Just when Capitalism is raw red meat for Michael Moore
the only dark specter haunting us is a bore.
Anyway what about "dangerous European Socialism" does America fear:
six weeks vacation, longer life, fitter health, better beer?

poet fuel

awake yet drowsy
an indispensable need:
morning espresso

east side glory

Feelgood proliferation?
Crave some adoration,
a standing ovation
for that rambling oration?
Attention all planets
of the solar federation:
For a general assembly of
Multinational Masturbation,
take your problem to the
Yoo-nighted Nay-aytion.

rhymes with banker

bonus under threat,
white, hot under the collar
in sweat-stained chalk stripe

missile envy

Oh no! An empty silo
into which will echo
unheard wishes for
Europe's protection?

Say it ain't so, O.
Warsaw and Prague
need to know
Nato's got their back.

Don't forget Moscow
plays its hardball cold;
who'll melt the rain when
red snow starts to fall?

play it again

Recession is over, the market is back--
time to get back the Big Mac attack.

Forget whose default, no one's to blame,
hike up your graph is the name of the game.

Who'll pay the bills you may well ax
when no one is willing to pay more tax?

We'll cut waste and fraud, but don't worry hang loose,
we won't take away your precious abuse.

power to ignore

Fasci-nation.
It feeds--and feeds on--
the actions of the asinine.

Resist the temptation--
the need to know more--
and ignore the philistine.

Summon up the will to make
the fake media moment
Simply. Go. Away.

summit up

@twitter won’t fly in Russia,
land of vacuum tubes and vodka.
So steam your press pool
accordingly.
A headline sets in lead:
Talking Titans in Podium Flash
Compare Diminishing Warheads
Total throw-weight crash.

match point

White satin track suit
garlanded gold—
no sweat
beading his head—
our hero cocks
a cool eyebrow
at the loser (confused, staring
into the grass, into
the chalky distance),
who only just a minute ago
was giving not quite
as good as he got.

weekend at bernie's

Padded prison cell,
papered in Ponzi mâché.
Busy bottom bunk.

crown of gold, cross of platinum

“It is finished,”
He must have said
—the fool who felt himself
a boy and crowned himself
King—
expiring alone
in the company of
His Personal Physician.
But all is not lost,
o mourning masses.
The coke-High Priests light candles,
give thanks that He died
—ascending the charts—
so that you may buy
a piece of history and
they may dwell forever
and ever
among the canyons.

stimulus

pump prime the bailout
with massive infusions
don't save a dollar when
spending two will do.

get people working
avoiding confusion
take action quick and
see this thing through.

change you can bank on
solving solutions
grab bull by the horns and
talk yourself blue.

monet, monet, monet

La France s'échappe
la récession économique—
il paraît.
Ç'est chic, non?
La révolution vit toujours,
mais je demande pour
combien de temps?
Comme jamais, on ne sait.

Heart of Africa

Keep taking from the Congo:
first rubber for your bike, now tin for your Xbox.
Do you, like, care?
Or even know where it is?
Grab the controller and play,
if you still have hands.
Sure, you say, it was the Belgians and then Mobutu.
Now it's the Tutsis and probably you too.

marine biology

Scientists say:
There aren't enough fish in the see.
Humans consume, dragging
nets, sifting dust.
Our dreams are drifting,
sinking fast.
They can still float to the surface,
you're thinking--
but don't hold your breath.

election day haiku

reason's victory--
all over but the counting--
one way to see it.

Lessons for America

Well people what
have we learned?
It's not how much
you earn
or how much fuel
you burn
or what kind
of monster you'll
turn into once people start
Asking Questions.

It's got nothing to do
with your middle name
or from what country you
came or whom did you screw
over 27 years ago
when no one dared think
or even cared.

Don't blink.
There's something big here.
How big? iPhone big. Batman big.
Peggy Noonan big. A thousand points of
Big Idea
scattered around like loose Change.
Did anything sink in at all?
Did it get through your skull's
thick wall?
Or do you still fear Knowledge? Or even an Idea?

show me something

all thumbs

In a world of wtf
i have to lol.
imho there is no
emoticon
for how i feel.

Ode to Plumber Joe

Hey Joe,
where ya goin with that
wrench in your hand?
The nation beats a path
to your white-panel van.
You're a star, bro:
Your opinion's the key--
but not to me.
I've got my own problems, Joe--
only one of 'em is a leaky faucet (now there's something you can help me with).
Otherwise I care not how much you're taxed,
or what you think about banks, since you've asked.
Hey, Joe:
You're in the toilet trade--you've got it made.
You show up with a bill before the work's even played
and you shake your head and say,
"Oh this is gonna take more than a day..."
Feeling a pinch? Your income's a lead-pipe cinch.
You'll be alright, Joe.
It's the rest of us I worry about.