In Ecuador I’ve eaten ants straight from a log
In China I was served with a fricassee of dog
In Japan they give you blowfish but without the poison in
But Finnish supermarketes sell Rudolph, in a tin.

A couple of longer Christmas poems can be found on the blog. (None of them are new. I may write a new one tomorrow.)

Funny, Bob! I look forward to them. I suppose I could write a few Hanukkah poems.

Happy Festivus for the rest of us.

This poem is neither about Christmas nor short. But it's a poem about the last year in the U.S., and I enjoyed it; I hope you will:

At last it's all over,
Two thousand and eight,
A year filled with hardship
And hope and debate.

It started with war
Between Hill and Barack.
They jousted on health care.
They sparred on Iraq.

A black man? A woman?
We wondered who'd win.
"My friends," said McCain,
"There are also white men."

Then Hill'ry conceded,
And some shed a tear.
"My friends," said McCain,
"There's no reason to fear!

"Our nation's a wreck.
The economy's failin'.
And so I present you,
My veep: Sarah Palin!"

The Democrats sniffed
At the mom from Wasilla.
But any moose knew
That this dame was a killa.

"You betcha," winked Sarah,
"I'm ready and able!
I'm God's gift to guns
And the pundits on cable.

"I'm hotter than Katie!
I'm cooler than Nome!
Plus I can see Russia
Right out of my home!"

The campaign got ugly.
The campaign got long.
And all o'er the country
Much more had gone wrong.

The news, it was awful.
The forecast was dire.
Our stocks took a nose-dive.
We'd never retire!

We bailed out the bankers.
We foreclosed the poor.
We laid off the workers.
We still were at war.

"Don't fear," said Barack
When we whimpered, "What next?"
"I've got the solution—
Just wait for my text."

"My friends," vowed McCain,
"I will fix it, I will!"
"Me too," shouted Sarah,
"So drill, baby, drill!"

And poor Dubya Bush?
He could hardly make news.
Except when he ducked
From the boos and the shoes.

And here in Chicago
We eavesdropped on Rod.
The guv with the coiff
Who had styled himself God.

He cried, "I'm not guilty!
I won't go to jail!
So what if I said
Barack's seat is for sale?

"I am not a crook
And I am not a creep,
So bleep the fed bleepers and
Bleep the bleep bleep."

And still there were moments
That brightened the day.
Mike Phelps scooped the gold.
And we loved Tina Fey.

We tweeted and texted
And iPhoned like mad.
We Facebooked and fist-bumped.
We're nuts for a fad.

The Cubs stirred our hopes
But again dropped the ball.
But, hey, that's Chicago:
The heartbreak of fall.

Then Bernie Mac left us.
Studs Terkel as well.
Paul Newman, Bill Buckley
Heath Ledger—farewell.

At last came November,
The end of the vote.
And with it a change
That had once seemed remote.

A black man walked out
Into Grant Park that night,
The air oddly balmy,
The skyline so bright.

McCain, he was gracious.
An era was done.
The crowd cheered for history:
Obama had won.

The country's still nervous
And itchy with fear,
But here's to new hope
And a happy new year.

- Mary Schmich

I hope it's not too political; I surely didn't find it so.

Long, and quite splendid!
In 2000 years it may rank with the Greeky epics.
A true summary, fair and balanced.

quote:

Happy Festivus for the rest of us.

How did you do in the feats of strength?


I found this summary very entertaining.

The old year is now down the drain
And the holidays drove me insane.
At our Festivus meal
I made relatives feel
My strength and my right to complain.