Jalapeno Pepper Blog

nine days
and i can’t go home tonight
they do not toll the bells
the thirsty horse only laps the water
innately knowing it’s toxicity will kill
politicians roil and boil
their leader calls it a game
later will be soon enough to play
corporate greed with giant machines
scream at how much it will cost
to put $2,000 in the victims hands
amounting to maybe 4 million $’s
even as politicians ram thru
58.1 billion $’s with no accountability
and with the understanding
there will be more more
bring in the sawdust the dance is staggering
cut the bootstraps the boys are flying
honey has been replaced with oil
burning waters burning bushes
nine days and counting
all the missing motherless children
all the broken hearted fathers
wolves at our doorsteps howling
it was not Katrina
is was our collective
and individual response
high drama of disaster
the punch line
the final scene
before the waking up

“The people of New Orleans understand the fruit
of the trickle down theory – here it comes again,
they are getting TRICKLED ON!” – mR. sMITH in Washington

Hear the clanging voices
blame the lazy poor of New Orleans
Queen Barbara Bush spouts her version
of let them eat cake “Those poor people
in our Huston Astrodome
are better off now than they were
in their squalid homes”
20 thousand displaced human beings
in one gigantic arena
cots all lined up in a neat row
children lost to parents
wives lost to husbands
Bow to Barbara people of the realm
especialamente those who found their homes
in the bowels of oil barons oil supply
there is fire on the water of New Orleans
even as callers to C-SPAN
debate whether they want the news media
to show the dead bodies as they are pulled from their homes
the nursing homes, the abandoned hospitals
400,000 jobs lost but they are the poor
they don’t get the jobs to rebuild New Orleans
all Hail Haliburton, the Screw-up of Iraq.
Peter-Principled!

they parted the waters and grew The Big Easy
in hurricane alley the poor consigned to lowland
lands so low feet below sea level
how many years of warnings of the levies failing
how much money trickled down not enough
turn around don’t drown

happy birthday Trent Lott
coming October 9th
64 i make it
16 years in the House
in your 16th year in the Senate
Katrina and it’s aftermath is firmly in your hands
the whole world is now watching every dollar
snatched from the compassionate American heart
how soon can we hear
“I will not run again?”

What happens when minus C boy gets Peter Principled
and Peter Principles the head boy of FEMA
Who the billionaires who dangle the strings
of the millionaire polecat politicians.

The Buck is not a fast track to the top
it is a local, stops for every point of abused power,
only ending at the West Wing.

The Sun doesn’t smile on your Ol’ Miss home Mr. Lott
and from the Gulf of Mexico oil
those who gained the most the most is expected
smiles come after the rain
and dues are paid.

Facing the gauntlet George Bush speaks
to Katrina victims:
“The light’s commin’. I know you can’t see it.
I know I can’t see what you’ve been thru,
but light is coming.

“My mind is on Mississippi now
and Trent Lott on my strings.”
oops, he only said the first part
i’m party of the second part

How in the world did we get off
with the power of one man
to appoint the chief judge
of the highest court of this, our land
with only two years court experience?
Where did the intent of the separations of power
and judges with a lifetime job
goof up the mostest?

Why oh why oh lawdy or anybody who can answer…
Judges can, with longevity, presumably, become wiser
yet, the most senior judge on the highest court of the land
does not become the Chief Judge
why o why ohio
we left so long ago
there’s nothing to rhyme no rhythm to hold
there they go!!!
Pumping the toxic water in the streets of New Orleans
into Lake Ponchartrain already learning
one man’s skin developed a horrible rash with contact
don’t eat the fish, don’t drink the water
it’s getting soupy
what you say is the temperature of the Gulf Waters
today?

Does the moon shine tonight on Charlie Chaplin
my nails are clacking they need a whacking
the bones on the Mississippians
little Fairy Jumper oh alone alone
mouth of Mississippi
to the bowels of New Orleans
flushing into the Gulf of Mexico
the Rio Grande
flushing in from Matamoros
Katrina blowback messages
‘I’m coming, evacuate”
and they did the class with cars
no minimum number of riders required
while public transportation
school buses
city buses
subsidized Amtrak
still demanded the coins of the realm
to escape Katrina
Burning Bush’s army took charge
FEMA took charge
BB refusing all foreign aid
FEMA refusing permits to medical facilities in place
orders of “Shoot to Kill”
looters that have no food, no water
Les Miserables,
it’s so cold here among the living.

Two years on the judge job
and he gets promoted to
Chief Supreme Justice
with thirteen agonizing month
plus a few days
before we the people can vote
will the 100 million eligible non-voters
awaken now
now while Katrina is still too much with us
tom dingery continues
drop yer boots on the ground cowboy
hug another willing victim
baby boy King George
got a new toy swimming pool
filled with oil
nakedly he splashes about
“See what I did daddy?
I took out Saddam for you
gave evangelicals a Bork clone!”
“Oh give me oil lots of oil
yellow ribbons in my hair.”
And the yellow rose of Texas
dies upon the thorns.

“I don’t believe for a minute
the rescue efforts are racist.”

Meaning: if I let myself
believe what I see with my eyes
I would hafta quit my job.

The rescue effort might not be racist
the evacuation before the storm
if not purely racist
was surely classist.

“As of Friday, the White House had not accepted any offers…”

Where did a US president get the power to refuse offers of aid to victims of a national disaster and the power to keep the offers out of the news for 6 days?

Day Seven and a Sunday. How many of the rural poor still have no food, no clean water?

The State Department said offers of help had been received from more than 50 countries, including:

Australia, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, China, Columbia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Greece, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

It’s time for another WPA Mr. President – hire those among the poorest who were affected that are willing and able rather than your giant contractor firends who are already gouging dollars out of the rebuilding efforts in Iraq.

Every day is Monday till the suffering is done.
No hump day.
No Saturday night live.
No Sunday morning brunch.
No forgetting.
The whole world is watching
along with a few celestial beings.