Jooble-us.com Link

Showing posts with label satire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label satire. Show all posts

Monday, February 20, 2017

Some En-Light-enment for a Dark Age: Two Psycho-Political Parodies

Two psycho-political parodies from The Stress Doc.  Enjoy!

Some En-Light-enment for a Dark Age:  Two Psycho-Political Parodies

At a meeting with Nepali allied health colleagues, all who are American citizens, the impact of this new administration’s pointed messaging was palpable:  Is America still a safe place for who folks who don’t look like the traditional “majority?”  From a female colleague with brown skin and dark hair recently attracting intense disapproving stares in a restaurant (i.e., people assuming she is “Muslim”) and aggressive “go back home” texts/taunts on social media, to people who have no legal-rational reason, feeling wary about walking in public, many of all walks are starting to feel like endangered “strangers in a strange (more repressive) land.”  In addition to attending rallies and making donations, my push-back method is through words.  The first lyric written this week; the second written the night of the Nov. election.  Hopefully, the democratic pen will prevail over the autocratic sword!  The New “R & R”:  Resistance and the Ridiculous!  MG
~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Fairy-Tail Emperor

When it comes to "media facts"
The Donald does not suppose
Nor bothers with smoking gun tracks...
Simply follows his swelling nose
To the bare bottom of "nasty" attacks
From those "fake-sore loser" foes.

Oh Trumpty Dumpty
Do you know what you know?
Oh Humpty Trumpty
How your little nose grows!
Oh Dumpty Trumpty
You'll stretch the truth
As far as it goes…
What will your gang do
To we who oppose?

Staring down protest in the streets
Alone high atop Mount Ego
Zeus-man keeps hurling tweets
Of all that he knows
It's how "The Man" blows
Up his Olympian PRIDE
He's "not a crook," has nothing to hide

For there is truth in his prose:
One more "Master of the Universe”
Alas, without any clothes!

Oh Trumpty Dumpty
Do you know what you know?
Oh Humpty Trumpty
How your little horn blows!
Oh Dumpty Trumpty
Here's a Russian Red Rose
To help you cover up
That butt naked pose!
Here's a Russian Red Rose
To help you cover up
That butt naked pose!


© Mark Gorkin  2017
Shrink Rap ™ Productions


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



11/9:  Have We Seen this Before?
(Or, The Night of Broken Dreams)

Reading about the post-election wailing and grief or the counter-reaction of "stop the whining," helped me realize the personal value of my coping option: turning a political lemon into poetic lemonade. Enjoy...or not!

My biggest fear in this election campaign was that Donald Trump was providing a platform for social-cultural hatred, a hatred by a variety of supporters, surrogates, and sycophants.  Such flame-throwing typically targets groups based on race, ethnicity, nationality, geography, gender, sexual identity, and/or religion.  I don’t believe Mr. Trump is a fanatical hater, more a conditional one:  a) when someone rubs his ego the wrong way (alas, this happens too easily), b) when women complain Mr. T has “rubbed them the wrong way” (alas, this happens too frequently), and c) when he strategically or spontaneously bullies or demonizes “the other” to gain supporters and votes and win a “negotiation” or political battle.  I hope my fears are mostly baseless.  I pray (despite being a Jewish atheist) that the new President will resist the urge to Trumpism, to become a dictatorial, Putin-like “strong man” repressing dissenting voices and constitutional rights.  I will congratulate Mr. Trump hardily if he genuinely helps rebuild our infrastructure and the economic options and standing of working-class families.  In truth, many of his other avowed premises and promises frighten me – personally, for our democratic ethos, and for our fragile planet.  So, I will be vigilant.  To loosely quote Ronald Reagan:  warily trust and verify.  Until then…I versify!


11/9:  Have We Seen this Before?
(Or, The Night of Broken Dreams)

Please do not think me dumb
Or even merely craven, yet
Will 11/9 become
Our homegrown 9/11?

Ah, the ironic paradox
The choice of free election.
Have we unleashed Pandora’s Box:
A swarm of white-male venom?

Oh tell me Mr. Trumpty
How do you run on empty?
Oh tell me Humpty Trumpty
How many have you dumptied?

Forgive my taste in history
To look back does no good
Still…a little pre-war Germany
And streets running with blood?

Why am I compelled to rant?
Perhaps a mere sore loser.
Though not a recent immigrant
(More “word artist” itinerant)
For you…does my life matter?

Oh tell me Mr. Trumpty
Why are you so grumpty?
Oh tell me Trumpty Dumpty
How many have you humptied?

“Why are you so paranoid?”
“He will drain the swamp!”
I gaze into the krystal ** void:
One big internment camp!

I do not fear the Mighty Wall
For I will not be barred
But one and all, from grace may fall
When “vermin” are gold-starred. ***


** The choice of the “kystal” spelling is a blend of “crystal” and “Kristallnacht” also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass.   “Kristallnacht was a pogrom against Jews throughout Nazi Germany on 9–10 November 1938, carried out by SA paramilitary forces and German civilians. German authorities looked on without intervening. The name Kristallnacht comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after Jewish-owned stores, buildings, and synagogues had their windows smashed.

Estimates of the number of fatalities caused by the pogrom have varied. Early reporting estimated that 91 Jewish people were murdered during the attacks. Modern analysis of German scholarly sources by historians such as Richard J. Evans puts the number much higher. When deaths from post-arrest maltreatment and subsequent suicides are included, the death toll climbs into the hundreds. Additionally, 30,000 were arrested and incarcerated in Nazi concentration camps.” (Wikipedia)

*** During the Nazi reign, Jews in Germany (and elsewhere, I believe), were mandated to have gold Jewish Stars sewn on their outer garments, to single out and stigmatize them when in public, increasing their chance for ridicule and much worse intimidation.


© Mark Gorkin  2016

Shrink Rap ™ Productions

Monday, June 20, 2016

When Fifteen Times Four Equals One Hundred and Four: A Politico-Mathematical Riddle

Like so many, I had a paradoxical mix of reactions to the Orlando mass killing:  1) first I was startled and sickened, and 2) I quickly sealed over; just another day, week, or month in the US of A.  But as my anger smoldered, I read something that revealed a common thread.  Then my brain came up with an ironic twist, ala Tom Lehrer, ‘60s Harvard physicist, piano-playing political-satirical lyricist.  Initially, the mathematical riddle may prove somewhat confusing…but, please, bear with my little irony.  To say any more would spoil the game!

On the other hand…more than ever we seem to need, Preserving Human Touch in a High Tech World: Writings, Raps, & Rhymes on Stress Resiliency, Burnout Recovery, and Digital SanityMy e-book on Amazon is generating some strong reviews.  Please check it out:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GIPXVH4/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb

Synopsis:
  An insightful and inspiring guide for self-discovery and heart-to-heart connection, Preserving Human Touch... is the painful, playful, and soulful outpouring of a one-of-a-kind – stage and page – "word artist."  Whether poetry or prose, purposeful or poignant, the language is colorful yet clear – a tapestry of meaningful substance and magical style.  This ingenious synthesis is best captured by the “Stress Doc’s” ™ quest to be the Dr. Seuss of Stress for Adults (and kids of all ages).
~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Fifteen Times Four Equals One Hundred and Four:
A Politico-Mathematical Riddle

Warning:  This verse may be hazardous to the ironically-impaired!

It’s time for a lesson
Today’s times table session:
When does 15 x 4
Equal one hundred and four?

Do I have your attention?
It’s a life and death question.
AR(e) you ready to play havoc with me?
Here’s a clue:  go waste the “e parentheses.”

Okay, to solve this critical problem
Sing the fiery national anthem
Shout that “Red BULL” slogan:  Go ahead…Make My Day!
Of course, bow down to the new guard – the NRA. 

Now, putting two letters in front of 15
Makes you more than Clint “lean-and-MEAN.”
I gave you a hint, a few lines above:
Enough of this hippie ‘60s peace and love!

Perhaps I’ve been too clever by half
Ready to give this game-poem the shaft?
But wait…just kill the (e), grab that AR
Now you can do damage from near and afar.

AR is tactical
Who needs an ARmory
AR is radical
You are your own ARmy.
AR is surgical
Can rip open an ARtery.
AR is mystical
Crazed crusader ARtistry.

For AR alone seems but a trifle
But AR-15…makes an ASSAULT RIFLE!
AR + XM ** and all types in between
You too can be a mass murder machine.

Now I said 4 but who’s keeping score?
In fact…46 mass shootings since 2004. ***
While religious terror is in the design
But so too VTech and, of course, Columbine.

But from our four…oh what liberal furor
Starting with Newtown and then Aurora.
A workplace party in San Bernadino
A gay nightclub in Disney’s Orlando.
(Oh yes, that black church in Carolina.)

The Second Amend is starting to trend
We all have a right to buy a “best friend?” ****
With a cool option for the street hunting scene
A high capacity killer magazine!

15 x 4 may not equal sixty
When 15 x 4 totals all those dead bodies.
So when is the next rapture of wrath?
15 x 4…Just do the math!

AR is tactical
Who needs an ARmory
AR is radical
You are your own ARmy.
AR is surgical
Can rip open an ARtery.
AR is mystical
Crazed crusader ARtistry.


**  XM – BushmsterXM15 was the automatic weapon used in the Aurora, CO killings

***  2004 – According to June 16, 2016, “Make It Stop:  Boston Globe tweets every mass shooting victim since 2004” (when the assault weapons ban expired), there have been 47 mass shootings and 411 people killed; another news source cited 46 shootings

****  “best friend” – AR-15 has been called “the mass murderer’s best friend”


©  Mark Gorkin  2016

Shrink Rap ™ Productions


Mark Gorkin, MSW, LICSW, "The Stress Doc" ™, a nationally acclaimed speaker, writer, and "Psychohumorist" ™, is a founding partner and Stress Resilience and Trauma Debriefing Consultant for the Nepali Diaspora Behavioral Health & Wellness Initiative.  A former Stress and Violence Prevention Consultant for the US Postal Service, he has led numerous Pre-Deployment Stress Resilience-Humor-Team Building Retreats for the US Army.  The Doc is the author of Practice Safe Stress, The Four Faces of Anger, and Preserving Human Touch in a High Tech World.  Mark’s award-winning, USA Today Online "HotSite"www.stressdoc.com – was called a "workplace resource" by National Public Radio (NPR).  For more info, email:  stressdoc@aol.com.

Friday, June 3, 2016

“What The Donald Wants” or The Dark Side of Mr. T

I was working on a poem about someone who definitely triggers a variety of my hot buttons.  Putting on the final touches, when…the light-bulb didn’t just go on – it exploded.  I saw the obvious:  there was a more worthy target; a larger than life figure inviting to be the object of my skewed and skewering attention.  And that I could pair my words and wit with a classic Broadway show tune, only added to my delight.  The Donald, this one’s for you!

P.S.  A reader has already requested a poem about Hillary C.  I'm an equal opportunity lampooner!
~~~~~~~~~~~

"What The Donald Wants" or The Dark Side of Mr. T

[Loosely sung to the tune of "Whatever Lola Wants," from the Broadway production, Damn Yankees]

Whatever Donald wants
The Donald gets
Whatever Donald rants
There are no regrets.

[Repeat each stanza; first rendition sultry, second version playfully aggressive]

Oh Mr. T
Object of idolatry
Despite the hirsute buffoonery
For The Donald T
Has a down to earth strategy…
Rub-their-face-in-dirt oratory.

Whatever T demands
He will always get
You're putty in his hands
Do you "kool-ade" and abet?

Oh Media-ocracy
You so frighten me
Buying all this lunacy
Oh Media-ocrity
Is ratings slavery
Worth such "psycho-phant-asy"? **

** sycophant:  "a person who praises powerful people in order to get their approval" and/or bask in reflected (or ratings) glory as well as their real or imagined sphere of influence; Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For DTs, day is night, black is white
With their "Great Again" vision
Of course, always, might makes right…
Even if hallucination?  Even if hallucination!

Oh Humpty Trumpty
So plain to see
How off "The Wall" can we all be?
Oh Trumpty Dumpty
For cooking up mass insanity
What's the nouveau-Jonestown recipe?

Atop Babel of Tower
Ball Bluster of the Net
Will unchecked EGO power
Perhaps save us yet?

Oh Mr. T
Our Zeus-like authority
Hurling tweets with impunity

Oh Donald T
Brilliant mind with no boundary
(Unless you're from Mexico City)

Oh Trumpty Dumpty
Please answer me:
Has shell game surreality -
i.e., Reality TV Presidency -
Made a mockery of democracy?
Or is it when your demagoguery
Apes Neo-McCarthy ideology?
(To the sentient-ape family
My sincerest apology!)

Oh Darth Vanity
Death Star "Grandiosity"
If you should implode, hypothetically
With galactic interdependency
Can we survive bail out, black-hole bankruptcy?
Another Atlantic City success story?
(Not to mention Trump University)...
My Lord, I ask with all humility:
Perchance, may we finally FIRE thee?


©  Mark Gorkin   2016
"Shrink Rap" ™ Productions