Frozen Variations

the resting water

is waiting simply to be

gone from the mountain

drained of warm colors

filled with the firmness of peace

echoes of white light

black and white are poised

balanced in the cold stillness

the clear dark glaze cracks

there is no stillness

like the stillness of water

in a cold country

Ledes & Limericks. Wednesday January 24 2018.

In the past week, the Huffington Post scaled back its platform
for unpaid bloggers and Facebook decided to ask users to rank
news sources by trustworthiness. Both represent a clear
preference for traditional journalism -- in which people get
paid for producing stories for good reason.
 From Bloombergs.

Are journalists back from the grave --

Do readers their news really crave?

It seems to be so,

But I’d like to know

What HAVE they learned from this close shave?

A Shortage of Trucks Is Forcing Companies to Cut Shipments
or Pay Up

Those trucks on the freeway we curse

Whose driving seems getting much worse

Are really quite rare

And we need to care

Because it’s affecting our purse.

The #MeToo Movement Hits

the Circus: ‘Grandma’ the

Clown Resigns

Even the sweet circus clown

Is liable to be taken down

When faced with the truth

He tampered with youth

And caused a long lasting deep frown

Dollar Hits New Low After

Mnuchin Says Weakness

Aids Trade

Mnuchin must hate the greenback --

He’s putting it under attack.

His ignorant gibes

Are causing great slides

Of dollars to cheap bargain rack.

White Sap

the silence is whole

white sap runs deep underground

a bird would be rude

Ledes & Limericks. Tuesday January 23 2018

Others are more inventive, such as Phoenix readers who call the Arizona Republic the “Arizona Repugnant” or the “Arizona Repulsive.” In North Carolina, the Raleigh News and Observer is sometimes labeled the “Noise and Disturber.” In Milwaukee, some readers have made the tired “Urinal” nickname flush, calling the Journal Sentinel the “Urine Sample.”  from the Chippewa Herald

It seems that the dignity’s fled

From newspapers that once had bred

Great awe and esteem --

But now that’s a dream;

The Prez wants them all to drop dead.

Norway’s strong social security net, which includes generous parental leave policies, is  a key reason the country of just over 5 million people is consistently rated one of the best places in the world to live.  From HuffPost  

The reason Norway is so fit

To live in is the Akvavit.

One bottle guzzled neat each day

And you’re as happy as a jay!

Business Cards Aren’t Dead, They’re Just Getting Weird

Bizness cards are getting strange --

They come is such disturbing range.

A card shaped like banana peel

Would not put over any deal.

But if new bizness you would start

I’d make my cards erotic art.

Gray Water

wind clicks in the brush

gray water so very still 

mountains keep distant

Ledes & Limericks. Monday January 22 2018

Reporters and editors making guesses

at what might happen rather than reporting

what did happen results in what

is typically called speculative journalism.

 From the NYTimes

When journalists go on a binge,

Predicting the news from a twinge,

They’re turning the trade

Into a charade;

No wonder their readers do cringe!

Government Shutdown

Goes Into Monday as

Senate Inches Toward

Deal

Our government is shutting down,

The bureaucrats depart --

Without their calculating minds

Perhaps we’ll gain more heart.

The Humorous Dictator

A humorous dictator is a thing I like to see.

One who squirts some seltzer on proud Lady Liberty.

He throws a pie at prisoners, and dissidents all find

They’re beat with rubber chickens when in protest they are lined.

He moons the other nations when they sanction his regime;

His jokes are foreign policy and taught in academe.

And when at last he’s led before a firing squad, he grins --

And asks to hear kazoos instead of sobbing violins.

Snow

The sky has come down

To cover branches in lint

To bear silently

Winter Light

The pure winter light

Softens abandoned childhood

Hides the trash they left

Ledes & Limericks. Friday January 19 2018

Trump’s Approval Rating

Slides, but President Gets

Credit for Economy,

Stocks

The President popular ain’t,

But on the Exchange he’s a saint.

The reason must be

Gullibility,

And growing more used to his taint.

Peter Zych replied to this poem in the Wall Street Journal: "Yes Tim.  All of us stock investors are as stupid as rocks but somewhat wealthier recently.  MAGA!"

U.S. Military Escalates

War Efforts in the

Philippines

Warmongering and Uncle Sam

Are nearly synonymous, ma’am --

So please don’t be riled

That we shot up your child --

As a token of peace, here’s some Spam.

Mathew Zobian replied to this poem in the Wall Street Journal: "What ignorance. Go to these areas, Tim. Learn about the world."

Venezuela’s Oil Production

Is Collapsing

Maduro wants children to know

He’ll feed them as soon as some dough

Is brought in by oil

Sucked up from the soil

As derricks turn into skid row.

Blame Game Begins as

Budget Showdown Looms

in Senate

The Senate is slow to react

To anything based on a fact.

If it is absurd

They’ll act like a herd --

And that’s why the country is wacked.


A Ms Hendley in the Wall Street Journal replied to this limerick: "substitute terd for herd......sounds more appropriate"

and Joseph Miksis also commented in the same paper:  "The lobbyists are the people responsible for the shutdown.  They will be even busier, paying off all the Congressmen and women they have bought to make this shutdown happen."

An Unwelcome Tax

Surprise Could Soon

Lurk in Your Paycheck

 from the Wall Street Journal

Withholding tax isn’t a cinch.

You might get a terrible pinch.

The new taxing laws

Should give us all pause;

The IRS still is a Grinch.

Mention Bitcoin One

More Time And You’re

Sleeping on the Couch

from the Wall Street Journal

I’d rather you went on a drunk,

Than spout anymore bitcoin bunk.

It may be your god --

To me it’s just odd;

Your millions will soon turn to junk!