Apocollapse - A Rap by DJ TazzieDog

Do fish in the deep, sleep?
Pectorals are stilled, no vibrational trill
Gills slowed to just a flutter
Hiding under shadows, undulating time
But this divine essence must return
To the human presence
Can't escape it, the egocentric
Let's face it, we live for the mirror,
Our preening interior struts
Rebuffs what we deem inferior
Our self-congratulation, adulation
Center of the universe excitation
Sadly dismisses those we share space with
Their place is based on our needs
What feeds our unrelenting appetite
Despite the signs that our mighty might
Antics, our pedantic insistence
That our resistance to "less is more"
Our unrelenting hoarding
Primordial rewarding for a species
Overstaying its welcome
Now playing the survival game
Has no one to blame but ourselves, a stain of shame
Contains our realization
That our end game is the end of
Civilization, as we know it
And the fish in the deep, asleep, not a peep
They're divine, they're sublime
Given time, they'll be just fine.

Black History Month

Dear Mr. Trump,

February marks Black History Month and even though you spent much of your presidential campaign fanning the flames of white supremacy and have a rather checkered past regarding race relations, having been sued by the Feds in 1976 for racial discrimination and bias regarding Trump Management's rental practices, still, you photo op'd your way through a kumbaya roundtable breakfast with a dozen or so African-Americans and your trusty Ben Carson by your side talking about the depth and breadth of contribution to America by noteworthy African-Americans.  Your disingenuous suck-up was a hot mess from the get go.

"Well, the election, it came out really well. Next time we'll triple the number or quadruple it. We want to get it over 51, right? At least 51", were your opening remarks. I'm assuming you came up with this opener yourself because if you didn't you should immediately fire your speechwriter. It's unclear what the 51 was referring to but I'm sure you had something in mind. On you blundered:

"Well this is Black History Month, so this is our little breakfast, our little get-together...During this month, we honor the tremendous history of African-Americans throughout our country. Throughout the world, if you really think about it, right: And their story is one of unimaginable sacrifice, hard work, and faith in America. I've gotten a real glimpse--during the campaign, I'd go around with Ben to a lot of different places I wasn't so familiar with. They're incredible people."  Just stop right here Mr Trump.  "They" are the people you are now addressing during breakfast. At this point you also spoke about Ben Carson, your unqualified HUD cabinet guy and the big job he shoulders dealing with not just housing but with the mind and spirit. Hmmm, sounds like yoga is now part of HUD.

"I am very proud now that we have a museum on the National Mall where people can learn about Reverend King, so many other things...Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who has done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I noticed. Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks and millions more black Americans who made America what it is today. Big impact."

In case you forgot the museum's name, which I'm fairly certain you did, it's the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the one you were supposed to attend on Martin Luther King Day but backed out due to a petty twitter feud you started with black icon, activist, hero, still-alive Congressman John Lewis.  As for your mention of Frederick Douglass, it was apparent that you knew nothing about him and probably didn't realize that he did his "amazing job" back in the 1800's. But, I am grateful that you brought his name up because it gave me cause to read more about the great abolitionist and suffragist. I suggest you join me in familiarizing yourself with this great orator and thinker.

"The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress."
                                        Frederick Douglass

The Salute

Dear Mr. Trump,

I recently saw a picture of you and your beautiful Melania hand-in-hand wearing matching, handsome long, black wool coats, posing in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln just prior to the start of your Inaugural Concert, featuring Toby Keith and 3 Doors Down. I had never heard of 3 Doors Down but they must have been very special to rate headliner status at your special concert. But, back to Mr. Lincoln...You, the soon-to-be sworn in 45th president, even saluted the 19-foot tall sculpture icon carved out of 28 blocks of white Georgia marble. As you faced Lincoln I'm sure you noticed the inscription behind him etched into the marble wall:

In this temple
As in the hearts of the people
For whom he served the Union
The memory of Abraham Lincoln
Is enshrined forever.

I don't know if you were moved by the quiet presence of Mr. Lincoln, his steely gaze looking out across the mall toward the Washington Monument, but I certainly was when I visited him the day after attending the Women's March, which was the day after your inauguration, it being the reason for my participation in the march. His presence was oddly comforting and reminded me that some things are bigger than any administration, bigger than any two-bit despot posing as the "leader of the free world". As you paused on the steps of the memorial for photos were you thinking that some day your greatness might too be memorialized in cold, white marble? The 45th. president on his throne with the inscription etched in pure gold:

In this temple
As in the heart of darkness
In which he divided the nation
The memory of Donald J. Trump
Is stained forever.

A Murmuration of Starlings

In 1890 a quirky fellow named Eugene Schieffelin, the President of the American Acclimazation Society, a madcap organization bent on introducing new species of critters into areas where they shouldn't be, released 60 common starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) into New York City's Central Park. Although there is no substantiated verification of his motives for this release, the charming legend passed along is that Schieffelin was intent on introducing to the U.S. every bird species that was mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare.

The Starling entered the Bard's world in his play, Henry IV, Part 1 where Hotspur, intent on driving King Henry nuts, thinks employing a starling to speak nothing but "Mortimer", a fellow who Henry refused to spring from prison, might do the trick. "Nay, I'll have a Starling shall be taught to speak nothing but 'Mortimer,'" Hotspur conjures. And that's it, the short entrance and exit of the starling in the works of Shakespeare. But, that whisper of a mention was enough for Schieffelin. Off the pesky little buggers went from England into America's wild blue yonder and they've never turned back. In fact, I'm certain that Shieffelin would be surprised at how these native European birds thrived in England's former colony, having grown to a population today of nearly 150 million in North America.

Now, Starlings aren't all that remarkable in size, demeanor or sound:  eight inches long, glossy metallic black with occasional white speckles, a gift for mimicry and collective noise but not much of a crooner. They are rather gregarious birds and love to roost collectively in large groups, which is cause for concern if you happen to be near a roosting zone. But, there is something rather remarkable and magical about these non-native interlopers; when danger calls they fly in a formation of sorts known as a murmuration, which defies imagination. To watch them in flight as a collective pulse, upwards of thousands of members in balletic and undulating clouds is breathtaking.While their murmurations seem to defy ornithologists full understanding, the best guess is that each individual bird responds to the seven closest neighbors in formation and adjusts flight accordingly. There is no leader of the pack or "head starling". This unique way of communication, referred to as "scale-free correlation" allows each individual starling to communicate to those around it, adjusting to changes in their behavioral state, such as a predatory threat. One bird affects and is affected by that of all the other members of the group, no matter the size. The result is a shape shifting cloud of exquisite dimensions. Truly a wonder of the natural world.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRNqhi2ka9k

Stopping On The Way To The Slaughterhouse

Hershey Kiss was on his way,
Devout in stance
Trusting eyes comforted by the others
Sure that he was headed somewhere
But not there, surely not there.
After all, he had a flair,
Although the others weren't aware
They were mighty,
Powerful yet powerless
To where they were heading,
Loin to loin, barely able to move
Aching legs spent, ready for a rest,
Now pleasing no one.
Hershey Kiss never knew that life of the others
He was of them but different.
They left him alone.
The truck stopped, a ruckus on the road
An arm waving furiously from a car window.
They were all slightly interested.
A woman, a voice he liked. Soothing.
He was nervous, after all.
All of them were. Muscles taut
Shining to a glisten under a cicada sun.
He was too short to see them talking. But, he heard them.
The tailgate opened, a great creaking that frightened him.
The others didn't seem to mind. They were eating.
The man pulled the rope around his neck
Hershey Kiss flinched, a searing twist toward the tailgate
His steps down the ramp tentative,
Frightened to leave, unkindness kept him moving,
Away from the others, toward her.
For she was there, the gentle voice.
She took off the rope and he followed her.

Time to Go - A Rap by DJ TazzieDog

No power. Does it matter? Fuck, yeah, the trickle down gloom permeates your existence, their insistence that power is theirs alone dooms your water boy, say girl, stature, capturing the best years of your life, strife with condescension lapping up their pasteurized rapture, their ascension to capture the brass ring. Well, it’s time for inclusion, break into the boardroom. No keys? Fuck the “please” the “Yes sir”

Oh the pratter, the power broker chatter that dispenses what does and what doesn’t matter, shallow souls 

dilettante toads croaking out loads of ribbeting snippets of self-serving prose. It’s time to go. It’s way past time to go.

Thank You Note To Hillary Clinton

Dear Hillary- i miss you already. I didn't realize what a steady presence you were in my life until you disappeared. I was excited to know you were out taking a hike with your dogs recently, the first spotting since our ugly election and thought how refreshing it must have been to have that hike reported as just a hike, rather than a final walk before your brain tumor takes you out, or hmm, those hiking shoes are hiding a severe pronation problem due to debilitating scoliosis, or you were secretly meeting in the woods with a Goldman Sachs official to pick up a cache of money stashed away in the hollow of a dead tree. It was just a walk and I wish I were the woman who, by good fortune, came across your path. I would have said "thank you" for these years of dedication and hard work for the causes you believe in. Most people don't take the time to get personally involved in the causes that stir their hearts. You are one of the rare ones who has dedicated your life to working for the "others"; the working class, women, children, families, those who have no voice. You have been their champion and are certainly mine. I'm sure you are worried about the direction our country is about to take, as i and the majority of our citizens who voted for you are. So, please, even though it is understandable if you wanted to leave the country and tell the media and the politicians and the pundits and the entire republican party to "fuck off" , please don't. We still need you. We are scared and angry and need your steadiness and experience to guide us through this shitfest we are about to enter. Perhaps being outside of the political circle will allow you to have greater clout, free from the unbridled scrutiny into every aspect of your life. I don't know where the vitriol toward you comes from but you must have been hitting buttons and sending off red flags, making those who should be uneasy, uneasy. Something about your strength and female moxie, no doubt. The non-scandals you were put through and the unfounded nonsense that was used as a distraction to keep the country focused on trivia rather than substance, were weathered by you in a dignified and grittingly graceful way. Now, we are in quite a pickel and must reap what we sowed. I, for one, want you to know that I had nothing to do with this travesty of an election other than defending you, arguing for you and voting for you. And while i did get a bit caught up in the first woman president narrative i supported you because of your values, leadership, experience, talent and intelligence. The woman thing was just a bonus. I feel a tremendous sense of loss that you won't be our 45th president and instead we will be stuck in a reality nightmare with a two-bit charlatan and his entourage of characters right out of Mad Magazine. We really don't deserve you but we need you. Please don't be a stranger, be our firebrand.
With all the admiration i can muster through the tears, i am respectfully yours, Laurel.  p.s.  In order to cope with the election results and to help quell the anger by morphing it into activism i have started a group at my workplace called, Coffee with Hillary. I work at the University of California, San Diego and know many co-workers and students who are experiencing depressed states of mind similar to mine. So, the idea is to meet every two months to have a political therapy session, share ideas on how to combat the nasty things coming down the pike and activate. I use your name as our inspiration. I hope the concept will catch on at other campuses and that it's OK with you.