Author: Sabba Rabba

My wife, as Savta Raba known
To our children great and grand,
Posed a poignant observation
Having heard the evening views
Of the pundits on the news –
Republican prevarication
And their autocratic stance
Democracy could well be gone

Her observation, simply this:
What, she wondered, life will be
For our children grand and great
Will there be democracy
Or likely an autocracy
When they’ll be twenty, in that state
How limited their lives might be
And will they know what they have missed?

My thought response, as I remember,
Thinking how life then might be
I thought of Russia, Putin’s realm –
All slaves to Putin’s craziness
With lives, so threatened, in duress –
Trump’s son might be here at the helm
When suddenly it dawned on me:
‘Twill be decided come November

4/28/2022

In the midst of news abhorrent
Raining down, it seems, in torrents
Both internal
And external
There is news that is historic

And that news is KBJ

Judge Ketanji, black and female
Smart, articulate in detail
Poised demeanor
Took to cleaners
Senators with mouths choleric

KBJ was on her way

Fifty three to forty seven
She had made it through the Senate
Closed doors battered
Ceilings shattered
Her achievement most fantastic

She’ll be Justice KBJ

4/8/2022

Well, Biden did it; really goofed
He up and told the honest truth
It must have been a Biden gaffe
The world’s response? It made me laugh

Joe Biden blithely caused some nations’ diplomats to cower,
By saying: this man (meaning Putin) can’t remain in power
An ad lib in his Warsaw speech supporting brave Ukraine
One’s not allowed to say such things, relationships might strain

The White House said, in self-redeeming,
Regime-change wasn’t Biden’s meaning
But Biden’s sanctions, it’s a fact,
Are really hoped, to do just that

The man’s a killer, liar; he’s an autocratic despot
He cares not for his subjects, subjugation is their poor lot
He’s targeting civilians with deliberate intention
Committing crimes that violate Geneva’s war conventions

So, let’s give Biden big high fives
For keeping honesty alive
Where Putin’s followers will sour
Putting Putin out of power

3/27/2022

I find it difficult to watch the nightly news
The up-close sufferings, horrific views
Of children, women, men, some near my age
Like novels where I fear to turn the page

But this is real; it’s happening before my eyes
And some of those I see will likely die
A mortar shell, a bomb, a rifle shot
Real people, I’ll, my life, forget them not

Then, too, I will remember and I bless
Those souls who vid these views, the nation’s Press
They daily risk their lives recording sights
All aspects of the war, the human plights

I must admit the helplessness I feel
I know that World War III could soon be real
A diplomatic tightrope we must navigate
Support as can but not in war participate

I’ve studied war, my specialty for forty years
All aspects: soldiers, battles, tanks to spears
But some things one can’t truly analyze
The utter terror beaming from a child’s eyes

3/8/2022

Ukrainian I am, I’ll always be
We lived a peaceful life most happily
‘Till Putin in his madness turned on us
We didn’t want to leave, but knew we must

My husband drove us west while we had gas
We owed it to our kids while this war lasts
Since Russia targeted our homes with rocket shells
Our city has been rubblized, ‘twas living hell

Our gas gave out; the border still some miles away
We ditched the car and all our stuff; it had to stay
Our two kids carried on our backs, we joined the throng
Of refugees all struggling to move along

It seemed forever till we reached the border queue
It stretched for hours before the gates came into view
We hugged and kissed, tears streaming from our eyes
My husband headed back – our last goodbye?

The kids and I are now in Poland at some site
The people have been good to us; they feel our plight
But I feel lost not knowing just what lies ahead
Or if I’ll ever get to see my man again

3/4/2022

Although it wasn’t shock and awe
Nor action that we all foresaw
It did, though, violate the law

Since Russia did Ukraine invade
And Putin proclamations made
That DONBAS hosted sovereign states

Luhansk and Donetsk, he declared
Republics that no longer fared
As part of Ukraine’s land they shared

But no authority has he
Himself to issue such decrees
Defying Ukraine’s sovereignty

“Peace keepers” Putin named the force
He sent to DONBAS, but, of course,
It was invasion; no remorse

Some sanctions Biden will impose
Deferring harsher ones; he chose
To try deterrence; though he knows

That shock and awe we’ll likely see
When Putin sets his forces free
The Ukraine as their enemy

2/21/2022

Really, this time it looks real
For Putin it’s too late to deal
Face saving off ramps, none appeal

Two hundred K’s a lot of troops
All set to launch in major groups
And take Ukraine in one fell swoop

Decision’s made, Joe Biden said
It’s based on Intel he’s been fed
Portends a lot of people dead

The object here’s to overwhelm
Zelensky ousted from his realm!
Put Putin’s puppet at the helm

All done in days, not months or years
His subjects all will stand and cheer
His cost in lives won’t be too dear

His war, I think, won’t go that way
Ukrainians won’t fade away
They’ll fight the fight each every day

With our support and NATO too
With sanctions strong; it’s what we’ll do
Against their banks and leaders too

For Russia’s weak economy
‘Twill soon become calamity
With Putin viewed with enmity

We, too, will feel inflation’s bite
The cost of standing for what’s right
Against aggressing with one’s might

The DJI will likely fall
The FED will likely change its call
Inflation’s movement to forestall

For that and that I have to pray
It really doesn’t go that way
For now that’s all I have to say

2/18/2022

I am a die-hard Trumplican
A proud Proudboy Republican
A patriot – American

I cross my heart and hope to die
Trump can’t do bad and that’s no lie
When Trump says”jump”, I say “how high?”

It’s Biden really makes me ill
It’s vaccinate, against my will
Democracy? I’ve had my fill

The Dems, the Jews, the Browns, the Blacks
Not true Americans, a fact
It’s time we took our country back

So at the polls let’s all take note
There is one simple antidote
Yes, simply do not count their vote

2/16/2022

The RNC defined itself by coining its most recent phrase
It so described the one-six mob who stormed the nation’s Capital
As protesters pursuing rights who were, in doing so, engaged
Politically in lawful acts (of violence); “discourse” ‘twas called

Agreement was unanimous: no member voiced opposing views
And on the Hill was silence heard among Republicans so loud
Except the few who had the guts to say it really wasn’t true
But of the rest I wonder whether of their silence they feel proud

Like Trump what’s black they’ll claim is white; they’ll traffic in his blatant lies
The total power that Trump wields o’er most Republicans today
Should in the future he becomes the President, I would surmise
It won’t be just the RNC but all the nation in his sway

Wake up! Wake up! All Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans
Enacting policies, I know, has always been your worthy goal
It’s time to shout now to the nation that our freedom can’t withstand
Republicans in power again. They’d kill democracy, its soul

2/7/2022

The Dems in Arizona state
Who once loved Kyrsten Sinema
Who canvassed for the candidate
Now treat her like an enemy

For Dems approval of her went
From somewhere in the seventies
To plummet down to eight percent
Some claim it’s due to vanity

By so opposing changes in
The filibuster Senate rule
That would allow the bills to win
She made her name; she was no fool

Since Kyrsten craved publicity
A narcissistic streak it seems
By having the audacity
To thwart the Democrats, their dreams

Her name’s now known full nation wide
I doubt she’ll ever run again
Her eyes look to the private side
It’s what I think, but wrong I’ve been

1/24/2022