Welcome To The Carnival

welcome to the carnival
where one-percenters chill…
and take the rides and water slides
while you just pay the bill

the taxing clown whose tweets roll down
had promised to evoke
a plan to help the “everyman”
but that clown’s just a joke

the ferris wheel pumps gold and steel
the big balloons burn coal
the fracking band plays, “give us land”
or we won’t save your soul

the freaks control the haunted House
and pay off all the mice
to claim “no global warming!”
as the tilt-a-whirl spews ice

the bumper cars all run on oil
the snacks are GMO
and you can get some scary drugs
at Pharma Land, to go!

as we take roller coaster rides
and puke from all the spin
but when we hit infirmaries…
the doctor isn’t in!

hey, welcome to the carnival
but you can wait outside
the corporations own it now
while you pay for the ride

so… what to do in this array
this sleight of hand that rules the day?
it looks like you won’t have much fun….

till this amusement park…is done!!

Cynthia Adler
January 2018

Wind Chime

Wind Chime

Cement corridors
cracked with the weight of
unfulfilled expectations
crammed into old
discarded
Duane Reade plastic bags
and toxic water bottles
lined up in perfect disarray
like some half crazed
chorus line.

Glazed eyes wrapped in saran
keep out the cold
housed in grey and
lifeless skins,
which scurry from a yesterday
desperately
into a hope of a tomorrow
with silly putty promises
made of cheap Styrofoam
lies.

Satan’s fracking auction
held on every back street
and
alley way,
closing out estates of the soul
and suffering children
with a “what am I bid for that?”
bought and sold politicians
with two faces carved into
either side of their
head
promising everything,
while bargains are made with a devil
who never gives anything
for free.

Alice in wonderland
how serenely and solidly you sit
while a bloody grassland
framed in filth and chemical poison
lies at your feet.
ice caps crying,
boiling and melting
into a
no-man’s land.
bees in a disappearing act
form hideaways
that become
burial grounds.

Play your music you pied pipers
dancing down your
cast iron roadways.
play for all you are worth
because your fireplaces are burning
and your faces are turning to rags
and when your crying children tire
of their pacifiers,
they will strike the set
and pull the curtain
and the next thing you know…
dinosaurs and loincloths…

So take notice
and brace yourself…
the change is coming!
and if you do not rise up
all will have vanished
leaving no trace of what was
except for perhaps
some old Duane Reade plastic
bags
blowing somewhere softly in the wind
around some old rotting huge
landfill spaces.

A wry reminder of the price
of things
to come.

by Cynthia Adler

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Why Mickey Should Run

Why Mickey Should Run
by
Cynthia Adler

Wanna be President?

Well…you might just be in luck! It seems that lately, this is a country where you don’t really need a lot of experience to apply for the job. Your speeches could promise everything (even if you don’t deliver), and you could appoint various family members to help run some of the government agencies for you! And…you could hang out wherever you want, protected by a swarm of security teams, all paid for by the people of this wonderful country. Whew!

And while you might need something of a higher profile to do that, it could really come from anything…an Oprah Winfrey, an Alec Baldwin…Hey, even a Donald Trump could run!

But in this digital age, where spin-doctors twist your brains around and little PR gremlins work the ear much quicker than the eye, people are confused. Many are not sure now that they have anyone to rely on anymore, and sadly, many do not even have the impetus to vote!

But oddly enough, there is a light in this strange political darkness for the next election. A candidate with a strong resume and a powerful name recognition. A candidate that yes, has lent his name to many commercial products, but unlike some others, he never ever took a penny from any of them! And, a candidate without a hidden agenda, who would gladly commit to a sane eight-year term and just might follow through on his promises…

And that candidate is…


Mickey Mouse!

Yes. Mickey Mouse. I know it may sound a bit radical, but hear me out.

You cannot find a candidate with more integrity today. Want to abolish the use of unlabeled GMO’s in so much of our food supply? Heavy metals and fracking with toxic chemicals sneaking into the waterways? And what about all those gag orders and threats blocking those non-invasive alternative cures from coming into this country? Well in that case, Mickey is your guy. He knows where all the dead mice are buried to hide the frightening results from the thousands of food and medical experiments that have been done on them. And Mickey’s not taking any chances!!?

And Mickey would appoint someone like Donald Duck as Secretary of Agriculture to head the FDA. Someone who would not go into collusion with big corporations to suppress evidence, or let them buy their way out of laws that are meant to protect people. No cuddling up with lobbyists to pass on any cancer causing pesticides or drugs with life threatening side affects. Oh no. He knows for all those kids out there with ADD, allergies, learning disorders and autism (just to name a few), Daisy would shove his head in the oven before he could even collect a dime. And Mr. Duck understands that he better “lighten that toxic load,” so to speak, or he could be labeled a “quack.”

And what about the EPA? Well…not to stray too far from American tradition… no better choice than Goofy!… Need I say more?

Foreign policy? Look no further than Epcot in Disney World. Countries from all over the world living side by side, in peace and harmony. So what can Mickey see from his window? He can see Mexico, Italy, France, Africa, China, Norway and Morocco. And… he can even go there for breakfast if he wants!

Also…Mr. Mouse is completely loved and adored by every head of state that ever was a young child. He has no vendettas to avenge, no rich cronies to give incomprehensible tax breaks to, and as for oil…too crude and too messy to deal with. Goodbye oil… hello alternative fuel! (made from the massive amounts of garbage collected from Disney World every hour!)

And might I add, that you will never ever see Mickey try to grope a female Disney visitor, no matter how big her chest is, or how much leg she shows. Mickey wouldn’t ever-ever brag about any female conquests in his life. Mainly…because there aren’t any!

And how refreshing is this…Mickey thinks a “Spicer” is just something you stick on food if it tastes too bland. He thinks Tweeting is what he hears from the fake bird sounds coming out from those speakers in Disney World. And…if you happen to mention Tea Party to him? All he can think of is a steaming cup of hot water with lemon and honey. What a relief!

I’m so glad we live in a democracy and can choose a President. But what do we really know? I only know what I’m fed from a corporate-owned media or some endless dog-and-pony show…

Believe me…this is a no brainer! And what have we got to lose?

Hey…if we’re already living in a cartoon…
why not go all the way?!

Mickey Mickey…he’s our man…

 

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