Mister Nebbish Milquetoast
Dares not speak a word
For fear some print and chatter
Would judge him as absurd. | Missus Jumpy Cold Feet
Sits in silent thought,
Certain her noisy thinking
Will judge her as it aught. | Jolly Molly Coddle
Appeases as Molly fied,
Cosseted in her smugness
And with velvet fists allied. | Mister Indy Pendent
Pisses a bees' hive off,
And out they buzz in anger,
Showing off their trough. |
Missus Carrie Tales
Tells too many things,
Unfounded and ungrounded,
Are her tasty, touchy stings. | Old Doc Skip Tickle
Laughs at what lips wag;
Words enrage to anger;
A slight snicker will them snag. | Little Johnny Panic
Answers wrong with right
And learns a simple truth
Stirs up a fist-fought fight. | Governor Shady Deal
Deals from the bottom of his deck,
Barking back at critics
Who foretell his shady wreck. |
Little Lost Boy drugged,
Diagnosed being all boy,
Loses a childhood's childhood
As pills replace plain joy. | Randy Johnny Condom
Forgets the risks ahead,
But forges on and in and up
To no good in each spread. | Missus Prim-n-Proper
Doilies knits and purls,
While Backwoods Billy bobs
And weaves to trap some squirrels. | Little Baby Basin,
Pieces clipped into peace,
Thinks not of civil choosing
Which chose its life to cease. |
Little Sexy Baby Doll
Dolls up pretty to the nines
For pheromones' pert passions
Lechery's fantasy bright shines. | Cleric Sure bin Certain
Tells all just what to do,
And plans a time that's coming
When Certain comes for you. | Philanthropic Skinflint
Keeps the most himself,
Staying, braying richly
Of his donations, not his pelf. | Poor Little Me is poor, you see,
Though with a lot of stuff,
And weeps like crocodiles
That lots is not enough. |
Socialite Lady Lightly
Plays the social lights,
Grandee in her grandeur
Yet wounded by slight slights. | Feral Boy who thinks he's man
Enough to whip it out,
Finds reality lies in wait,
Unforgiving to this lout. | Mayor Mayer Honor
Parties like a champ,
Offices securely barred --
It's the people's armored camp. | Professor Seize the Future
Knows not what the morrow brings,
But of tomorrow's centuries
He professes dire things. |
Diplomat Whine and Dine
Flies about the ego world,
Saying this, then saying that;
Gordian knots stay tightly curled. | A scholar of so many things
Learns he learns not much;
The length and breath of a world
Are far too wide to touch. | Second Fiddle sits to scratch
Awhile while arms fling high.
Listen for the boom and bang,
Which drown a scraping sigh. | Chancellor Aplenty
Rakes the students in,
Granting simple sheepskins
With a debt buried therein. |
An Honors Society meets to preen
In its congratulatory zeal
As it lifts the cup unto its own
With a self-congratulatory spiel. | Mister John Q Public
Casts votes on tempests' waters;
Those chosen by the Public
Choose a policy that slaughters. | Cassandras shriek, seeing well
What well might come to be.
It is their lot, millennia tell,
To be ignored, you see. | Editor Poppycock
Edits the news;
The happiest stories
Are sung like the blues. |
Engineer Bill wires us,
The cogs in the common wheel,
Hoping to serve his bidding
And churn out his commonweal. | General Good commands;
His troops lay down their lives.
Such are the ways of war,
And a General Good survives. | Bishop Prick and Preacher Man
Pass round their gilded plate.
Heed their sermons, might one?
But not when they adulterate. | Granny Gripe and Uncle Tom
Face off in the public square.
What to one just seems right
To the other's left said unfair. |
True heroines like heroes
Are few and far between.
Mostly they are most ignored,
And pass their lives unseen. | A code is pink, in future green.
Some plans are red as read.
Lou the Lemming rushes round
According to plans he's fed. | Punditry's Talking points
To the left, then to the right.
Might we be so well informed?
No compromise in sight? | Celebrities cell themselves
And the products that they hawk.
It's all about their money. Their walk's unlike their talk. |
Little Jimmy de Window
Breaks just a rule or two.
Acquisition is his game,
And he won't brake for you. | Lady Highfaluting
Will not be patronized;
But if you become her patron
She'll moan in moneyed sighs. | Radical Al gets violent
When he can't win his way;
His vision is the best, you see,
And as such he must hold sway. | Arthur Authority rules.
One must not disagree.
Such says Art's ruling class
Quite unabashedly. |
Billy Willy-Nilly,
A wishy-washy sort,
Hems and haws of this and that;
Into pretzels he'll contort. | Sue? She sues
At the drop of a hat,
The spill of a cup,
Without caveat. | Auntie Depressants fuels her fires
With promises of calm.
A simpler life holds answers;
Less dangerous is it balm. | Newlyweds newly beds
In idyllic softened love.
Then time passes, edges fray,
And easily push comes to shove. |
Love your neighbor as yourself,
When you drink your night away?
Then take your neighbor to the pub,
And drink and pay and pay. | Mothers are like Mother Mary,
And like Medea, too, one learns.
The stories? There are many.
One love nurtures as another burns. | Let's organize community,
And for those who will not play,
We'll organize a party
To drive them all away. | Folks come in all sizes,
All shapes and colors rare.
Thank goodness for our clothing;
Most I'd rather not see bare. |
The mad man of each village
Knows medicines quite rare.
But the wheat is mixed in with the chaff,
In confusion's public square. | Folk tunes' authors are unknown
While their melodies sing on.
Though I know not those who wrote,
To their tunefulness I am drawn. | There's a good witch and a bad witch,
Both part of an adventurous tale.
Which witch which one favors
Is a matter of no small detail. | The trickster vows he isn't,
And the liar swears all's true.
Now who would you care to believe?
Your answers tell much of you. |
Smithy Smith stays on to sweat
And forge tomorrow's tools.
There are those who shirk such work,
And they are this day's fools. | Mister Baker's daily bread
Is praised in oft-said prayer.
In early mornings he must rise
And for us all prepare. | Ferry me, Ferryman,
When I must cross the deep.
I pray Someone assist me
When my way grows far too steep. | Known and unknown folk have taught
Across centuries' and cultures' span.
It is to many one owes so much,
To each named and each unnamed man. |