Sonnet Rant: My Problem with Epic Fantasy

Uneasy is the head that wears the crown,
Uneasy is the ass that sits the throne.
This foolishness, in wisdom, we cast down;
Heredity and leadership unsewn
The one, now, from the other. This is just.
It's right that ev'rybody has a chance
To rise to where he will. So I distrust
This love of kings and nobles; the romance,
The glamor. We look backwards and we feel
A wholly false nostalgia -- and some seek
To drag us back to those dark days! It's real.
Who'd be our feudal lords again just speak
In clouded terms. Remember: kings are jerks.
Beneath each politician's smile one lurks.

In Which I Start Another Blog

Sometimes I simply cannot say enough

Within a sonnet, though the challenge to

Pare down and keep it pithy, short and buff

Is good for me, it will not always do.

Thus my return to prose opinions should

Be no surprise. I've started with a rant

About an adaptation. Is it good?

It feels that way, though I really can't

Claim it's a masterpiece of reasoned thought

It's honest and it's what I think. No one

Should feel compelled to read it (though you ought

If my opinion's what you seek). I'm done

With settling for a shoehorn job when I

Can ramble on like mad, yell at the sky!

In Which I Plead We Shut Up About The Ground Zero Mosque Already

You'll find no spot where nothing has occurred
That we could e'er call tragic. Why do some
Get privledged over others? It's absurd.
But that is not the only thing that's dumb
About the current controversy 'round
Ground Zero and a Muslim center. There
Around it sits a lot that's truly bound
To cause offense already, and to spare:
Like crappy souvenir shops where one buys
Mementos made in China -- commerce, though
Is what is truly sacred, I surmise.
We've come so far, but have so far to go:
There's joblessness and homelessness and war
That need all our attention so much more.
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In Which Civility Is Longed For

I think of sportsmanship today, and cry

A bit, so poorly honored are its truths.

Today, in victory, one side gave lie

To something we were taught, no?, in our youths:

A gracious winner's what we want to be.

Instead the losing side's called stupid, or

Is wished to illness. Sadly, though, I see

That losing side is just as bad, though more

Is glaring at me from the victors' taunts.

Death threats and histrionics, are they worse

Than sneering gloats? I think not, and it haunts

Me just a bit to see this. While a curse

Is just a word, remember we must share

This world with people we dislike. That's fair.

In Which My Forehead Turns Bright Red, But Not From Alcohol, Tomato Splatter Or Exertion

Tomatoes were to be today's subject,
Since I just bought a ton. They're cooking down.
Meanwhile, I thought, it's time that I Tweetdecked
And what I learned there brought forth a big frown.
My Tweeps at NPR have just disclosed
A set of facts that made me slap my head:
Chris Dodd and our Obama, both exposed,
As having both spent time curled up in bed
With AIG! They're numbers one and two
Among the pols who gladly took a bribe --
I mean a contribution, of course, to
Their campaign funds. It's painful to describe.
Dodd made the loophole AIG then used
To pay its bonuses. I feel abused.

A Sonnet On Bogus Bonuses - But Not A Bonus Sonnet

Let me say, first: The fact we are at all
Engaging in these bailouts makes me ill.
That we let something get too big to fall,
Though, means that we somewhat deserve the pill,
Though bitter. That said, is there anyone
Out there who's gladly stomaching the thought
Of AIG's announcement? I'm undone
Just sorting out the details of this plot.
But in my naive way I'm fairly sure
That bonuses reward a great success;
Are handed out when matters are secure.
But this time it is WE, without redress,
Who's doling out the dough to reward bad
Decisions and worse management. We're had!

There Is No Broadband "Bridge" To ANYWHERE, No Matter What Michael Katz Says

The internet is suff'ring from a plague
Of metaphors that, all of them, are crap.
A "bridge" or "pipeline" doesn't sound that vague
But words like these bait us into the trap
Of policies and practices, all based
On faulty rhetoric. It's bad enough
That rural folk tradition'ly have faced
A lack of access to the kind of stuff
That upscale urbanites take as their due,
And friends of mine must travel 80 miles
Round trip to see a film or buy shampoo.
It will incur some extra cost and trials,
But in the end society will find
That what is being joined is mankind's mind.