More than Enough
by D.O.T. Marceo
So just a bit of time we will insist
To talk about a living, life and lore:
But must the poor here be and to exist?
The roles are set. But can we change the score?
The worthy say the heart will bring success:
If no support, the will can never fail.
Thus all is fair for everyone unless
Misfortune hits the rich—his right to wail,
Though willfully obstructs a poor man’s steps
That tread so far and still can just keep up.
In keeping set the rich now has his reps
To stifle workers and that chime but “Yup.”
The law of rich design has made it tough.
To live is having more than just enough.
D. O. T. Marceo was born in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles to a family living in South Los Angeles. As a child he would spend time in the summers at his maternal grandmother’s house in the country parts of Costa Rica. The path to his bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of California at Merced began at Santa Monica College. He published his first collection of poetry entitled “My Diamond” in the fall of 2019.
An Ode to Trump Bros
By Steve Varalyay
Early on he lit your fire.
“Elect me and I’ll lock up ‘Hillary the Liar’.”
He spoke at length about building The Wall
And assured everyone there’d be jobs for all.
Repeal Obamacare? Drain the swamp?
Easy as doin’ the Bristol Stomp*.
Not one to let his troops go flat,
Trump quickly unveiled the MAGA hat.
You expected his tax cuts to be heaven sent.
But they almost exclusively went to the Top 1%.
Devos, Mnuchin, Scalia. Champions of the working class?
Big ‘ol “my ass!”
Forget the wall along the border.
A Dierks Bentley tune is in order.
“I knew what I was feelin’,
But what was I thinkin’?”
These lines lay bare the painful truth
Of when you walked into that voting booth.
* (early Sixties dance).
Steve Varalyay writes short fiction and about corporations’ use of PR against progressive causes and unions. He once covered labor and healthcare issues for Random Lengths News. Steve has a BA in Spanish for Public Service and a Minor in Labor Studies from CSU Dominguez Hills. He is a member of Occupy South Bay and lives in Torrance.
