Americans at Work

Today Facebook has launched
a trial of "Facebook at Work"

which is different from Facebook

in that the color scheme
is a shaded white

it exists as a separate "portal"
on the desktop
as well as its own app

and you connect to colleagues

with whom you may
or may not also be friends.

If your company
signs up for the service

you don't have to have
a personal Facebook account.

Listen up Fox News

this tacitly-approved goofing off
is making the US
closer to Europe

with respect to admitting
that we like having an identity
separate from the one

that built this country

(frontier spirit
and if you want to be
all PC about it

slavery too)

and it means that Obama

(as far as any president
can actually influence the economy)

only helped create 11.2 million jobs
over the span of fifty-eight months

in a presidency
of nearly seventy-two months.

You could say he was playing
"Presidents at Work"

but that might be conveying
a mixed message.

This poem © 2015 Emily Cooper.

Tokens of Gratitude

During the attacks
on a kosher supermarket
in Paris

a Muslim man named Lassana Bathily
protected Jewish hostages

by telling them to hide
in the freezer.

In response
to Rupert Murdoch

saying that even peaceful Muslims

must bear responsibility
for terrorist attacks

fellow billionaire and Christian
J.K. Rowling said

"Peaceful Muslims
are no more responsible for terror

than I am for Murdoch."

And might peaceful Muslims
like peaceful Christians

one day be able
to take responsibility

for the heroic acts
performed by followers
of their religion

or must they stand alone
as the exception?


This poem © 2015 Emily Cooper.

Same Mistake This Time

Thank you Gabby Giffords
former Democratic Representative
of Arizona

for your gun control advocacy

which you now do
outside of Congress

through the non-profit
Americans for Responsible Solutions.

Thank you Congress
for another year

of serving the for-profit
Americans for Reprehensible Stalemates

who started 2015
with a "bang"

by posting a list of
"10 Handguns to Own Before You Die"

on its parent organization website
NRA.gov.

Since Giffords retired
two years ago

there have been nearly
one hundred more
school shootings.

Obama called you "a hero"

but just like
Tina Turner said

maybe "We don't need
another hero."

This poem © 2015 Emily Cooper.

Where the Boys Are

Congratulations Florida
on becoming
the next state

to be bullied by peer pressure
into doing
what all the cool states are doing

(and what the hipsters
will soon make fun of).

As if Florida
weren't the butt of jokes already

now you have legal Cubans
legal gay people
and legal gay Cubans.

It's almost enough to make
former Florida Governor Jeb Bush

end his 2016
presidential campaign.

He said
he respected the state's ruling
despite his own disagreement

but come on
does that sound like
any Republican we know?

This poem © 2015 Emily Cooper.

A Tale of Two Cities

Former New York Governor
Mario Cuomo

may you rest in peace.

In your 1984 address
to the Democratic National Convention

you gave a rebuttal
to Reagan's declaration

by saying that the United States
was not in fact
"a shining city on a hill"

but rather "A Tale of Two Cities."

Acknowledging the minor concessions
that would have to be made

you declared that Democrats
get their shit together
(to paraphrase several paragraphs)
so that

"no slick Madison Avenue commercial
no amount of geniality

no martial music
will be able to muffle
the sound of the truth"

but somewhat ironically
"not so much
with speeches that sound good

as with speeches
that are good and sound."

Now as for the time
you said
"You campaign in poetry.
You govern in prose"

well it is true
that this poet

would rather campaign forever
than ever get elected.

This poem © 2015 Emily Cooper.

Fight for Your Right

Speaker Boehner
is a firm believer

in Louisiana Republican Representative Steve Scalise's
ability to quell

the racially-charged controversy
he has found himself in

after revealing that
in 2002
he gave a speech

to the European-American Unity
and Rights Organization

headed by prominent
former-KKK member David Duke.

Scalise has defended himself
by saying

“One of the many groups

that I spoke to
regarding this critical legislation

was a group whose views
I wholeheartedly condemn."

Black Democrat Representative
Cedric L. Richmond of Louisiana

has also given him
the benefit of the doubt
by saying

“He’s got a chance
to write his own history
going forward now”

though the Louisiana Democrats
requested that he apologize.

As for Obama

he surely deserves
some of the blame

that Scalise did not
come forward sooner

as he has time and time again
set an example

by working with people
whose views he wholeheartedly condemns.

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.

Enduring the Operation

The war in Afghanistan

(or at least 'Murica's
participation in it)

is now officially over.

The event was marked with
a quiet flag-lowering ceremony
in Kabul.

The country's own security forces
will be left in charge

with 13,500 US troops
hanging on
for peacekeeping purposes.

Afghanis themselves
have mixed feelings

with 42-year-old shopkeeper
Gul Mohammad saying

"At least
in the past 13 years

we have seen improvements
in our way of life"

citing "freedom of speech
democracy"

and "the people generally
better off financially" as examples.

Not to make light of
the violence and upheaval
the country has experienced

at our hands

and otherwise

(or the "improvements" that may still
to first-worlders

look plenty dire)

but those three things
would be pretty nice to have
in our country too.

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.

X-Mas War is Over

Hey Fox News

don't you think
it shows a less-than-total dedication

to preserving
the primacy of Christmas

over other religions
and especially over godlessness

if you only advocate for it
once a year?

"And remember

it's 'Merry Christmas'

not 'Happy Holidays'"

needs to become

a perpetually-scrolling

yellow-on-red-and-green marquee

even during the commercials

and a sign-on and sign-off

for all your anchors.

Lest your viewers forget.

(And maybe every so often

mention the color

of Santa too.

Couldn't hurt.)

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.

"On High" with a Little Help

With no offense intended
towards the Pontiff

he probably doesn't sing
like Joe Cocker did

but when he diagnoses the Church

with the "disease of feeling immortal"
and a "pathology of power"

that leads to the delusion
of feeling that "they are superior

to others
and not here 
for the service to others"

he certainly knows how to say
that we only get by

with a little help
from our friends.

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.

Pressing Issues

Yesterday President Obama
during his last press conference
of the year

made history
by fielding questions
from eight women reporters

and none from men.

GOP people might be tempted
to call this out

as a mere tokenist stunt.

But sometimes

in the case
of one's own party's track record

maybe it's wiser instead

to avoid that temptation.

(Or the temptation
to notice

that the North Korean
hacking group who intimidated Sony

not to release The Interview
on Christmas Day

is called Guardians of Peace

and has the initials GOP.)

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.

Mambo Number 2014

After 55 long years
of Cubans being subjected

to America's golden age
in vehicle craftsmanship

(lovingly and proudly
sacrificing safety
for awesomeness)

Obama has finally declared
that the two countries
will resume diplomatic relations.

And apparently Pope Francis
had something to do with it

when he was part of 18 months
of mostly Canadian-led
secret talks

and then hosted a meeting
at the Vatican

with President Obama
and President Raul Castro

where they agreed
in a phone call
to put aside their differences

(after all
communism and capitalism
are just like
the two pieces of bread
lovingly smushed together

to encompass an overflowing Cuban sandwich
with ham
roasted pork

Swiss cheese
pickles and mustard).

So a pretty nice
78th birthday present
for the Pope

(along with establishing
a bright and shiny
new child abuse panel)

and as for the President

well at least
Congress isn't in session

(on second thought
that is a pretty big deal).

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.

Pre-Existing Conniptions

Hey all you stragglers
tomorrow's your last day
to apply for Obamacare

unless your income's too low

and your state
chose to opt out of
the federal government's free Medicaid expansion

in which case
you may be able
to rent a paddle

for the proverbial creek

but only during the hours
you'd rather be sleeping
before going to work

and only
with seven voter IDs

and a local Republican congressperson eyewitness
who can vouch
for your non-moochiness

(who tend to like
to sleep late).

And you might
want to do that

before Republican governors
decide these rules
are too nice.

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.

Common Fight Against Terror

Happy 71st birthday
Secretary of State John Kerry.

Your position
is a thankless one
but at least

unlike previous Secretary
Condoleezza Rice

you don't have to wrestle
with your conscience

over how much of a role you played
in authorizing

not-so-super-friendly
interrogation tactics.

Then again

maybe she doesn't either.

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.

The Bump Danced 'round the World

Now that Obama
has finally

late in his career

gotten the Colbert Bump
he so desperately needed

in order to get Republicans
to do anything he says
from now on

all that's left to do
is for Colbert
to make the aforementioned Bump

into the first dance move
invented by a fake right-wing

cable TV pundit.

What the world needs now
is dance

sweet dance.

(Or something like that.)

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.

Born Under a Bad Sign

Thamsanqa Jantjie
the fake sign language interpreter

who premiered his performance art
to a less-than-appreciative crowd
at Nelson Mandela's memorial service

is now looking
for acting work
but is having trouble finding gigs

due to the negative publicity
surrounding the incident.

Jantjie has put out a showreel
in which he pledges

to "make up to the whole world"
for his shenanigans.

If movie or TV studios
will not grant this man a position

in which making stuff up
is part of the job

who will?

Certainly no one
in American politics.

(They're still too upset
that they got lied to.)

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.

Skating Through Hell

Even though
North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis

has won re-election
to the US Senate

with 48.8 percent of the vote
over Kay Hagan's 47.2

(a sliver of a victory
thanks not to better policy

but to changes in voting rules

such as elimination
of same-day registration)

the Reverend
William J. Barber II

is not going down
without an ice-skating competition

for issues such as
Medicaid expansion

(and civil rights expansion
and labor rights expansion
and environmental policy expansion
and women's health care expansion

you know
little things like that).

He says
"We will fight
until hell freezes over

and then
we will fight on the ice." 

McCrory rolls his eyes
into the back of a head

which charitably contains a brain.

But whether the ice can survive
a mass of 25,000 people

for another Moral Monday
on February 14th of 2015

remains to be seen.

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.

Everybody Is a Star

After the holiday
of gratitude and giving thanks
for one's blessings

comes the joyous season
of You're-Not-Welcome-Take-Backs

(which may or may not
be a separate and distinct holiday

from that of hurling invective
at beloved
but politically-inflexible relatives)

where civil liberties
that went un-exercised
throughout the year

can be flaunted
as though
they were going out of style.

Because one never knows.

(And yes
it's okay to do

even if all the hipsters
are doing it too.)

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.

Mirages of Peace

Undoubtedly there are always people
who see Jesus' face
in the mashed potatoes

but soon Pope Francis
will be seen in Turkey

where he has been invited
by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Bartholomew I

to celebrate the feast of St. Andrew.

While there
the Pope will be tackling

(with his bare hands
and in full holy battle regalia)

the issue
of strained Christian-Muslim relations

as the 99 percent Islamic country
awaits an acknowledgement
of their persecution

along with Iraqi and Syrian Christians
who have fled ISIS
in their home countries

and are living as refugees.

As if dialogue 
could do anything
that a well-placed drone couldn't

he commented
on his perseverance.

“I never count anything
as lost. Never. 

Never close the door."

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.