The World is on Fire

 Lovely Weather We’re Having

The world is on fire
all across the globe
Canada, Europe, North American Midwest
while the Southwest floods
and the Northeast 
gets an introduction to tornadoes

as we lie here quietly 

under a blanket of fog 
and keep our longing for sunshine to ourselves
and watch the news and see the world climate 

turning and burning
with Mother Earth showing her anger at being ignored 
and we just stay silent, turn up our jacket collars 

and mumble our thanks 
for slightly cloudy and 62° and a light breeze 

with an overnight low of 53° 
and if we keep our complaining 

to a reasonable minimum 
we are rewarded each day at 3 PM 
with a brief appearance and a gentle kiss from the sun 
thanking us for our patience. 

The world is on fire
and the gods keep sending 

floods to the wrong places
but we only do short bouts of worry 

and complain quietly
because 

I’ll be long dead before this shit really goes south

meanwhile the gods keep screaming 
at us to wake up and get it right
but their aim ain't what it used to be

with their angry tornado breath 
landing in the wrong place to wipe out

the trailer park full of people that voted for the guy

who took away the wind turbines 
because there is no money in it for Big Oil
and took away subsidized healthcare
because there was no money in it for Big Pharma
who needed all their profits 
to sell you their drugs on the nightly news 
that you now can’t afford
that would help you to not have a panic attack 
while watching the weather report 

but you should ask your doctor if it’s right for you
and don’t take it if you are allergic 
because it may kill you 
which would severely impact 
their bottom line 
as well as yours.

San Francisco, CA

August 2026

Evening Journal: July 2026

You can witness

the true measure of someone

by observing their reaction

when you tell them “no.”

“The whole system is rigged, it’s a total witch hunt,

and nobody has ever been treated as unfairly as me

because they won't let us do what needs to be done.”

                                                — Donald Trump

07/02/2026

​

Tonight I heard

“bombs bursting in air”

they were fireworks

In some places

they are real

Thankful

to be here

no matter what

​

07/04/2026

2016: “Trump is cultural heroin. He makes some feel better for a bit. 

But he cannot fix what ails them, and one day they'll realize it.”

2022: ”The president is right. I wasn't always nice…but he has 

revealed the corruption in this country like nobody else.”

–J.D. Vance

                He was right both times. 

07/06/2026

While driving in San Francisco 
I am averaging twice per trip,
for how many times I scream
“Get off your phone 
and drive your shit!”

07/07/2026

Even with this administration’s

propensity for diversionary tactics

“taking one for the team”

just took on a whole new meaning

Lindsey Graham

1955–2026

07/12/2026

DNC PTSD

Whether cognitive decline (2024) 
or questionable tattoos (2026) 
denying the obvious
is no recipe for success

07/13/2026

They say AI language models are soulless creatures 
that have become experts in guessing 
the next word you want to hear
like politicians only smarter

07/14/2026

A General (2023), a Congresswoman (2024), and a Senator (2026) walk into a bar. The General says, “I need to use the restroom,” but never comes back. The bartender asks, “What’ll it be?” The Congresswoman says, “I’ll have a Lone Star, but make it quick; I have to get back to the home before bed check.” The Senator just stares at the bartender and doesn’t say a word, so the Congresswoman says, “He thinks you’re a reporter. Just wave a $100 bill under his nose; that’ll snap him out of it.”

07/15/2026

When even your fledgling
bought-and-paid-for state media channel
fact-checks its Great Leader
perhaps there is still hope for a free press

CBS News fact-checks Donald Trump’s 
Prime-time address on Election Integrity

07/17/2026

Load The Gun, Drop The Shield

The Department of War has declared the annual influenza vaccine 
"overly broad and not rational” but mandatory testosterone checks 
will keep our troops “on the leading edge of lethality”
…as long as they don’t get the flu.

Health mandates from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

07/18/2026

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney 
should impose tariffs on the toxic air 
that has been emanating from Washington, D.C.
since January 20, 2025

Donald Trump threatens to impose tariffs on Canada 
due to toxic air from wildfires

07/19/2026

Lately I would rather watch 
 ‘Leave It To Beaver’ reruns than baseball 
because my team’s bullpen pitching 
is a hunk-a-junk

07/20/2026

I might feel more comfortable about 

the rapid weight-loss craze if it didn't seem 

like I was surrounded by the skeleton warriors 

from the ‘Jason and The Argonauts’ movie (1963)

07/21/2026

By infuriating election officials from both parties
with unfounded claims of incompetence
Mr. Trump has ensured the upcoming midterms 
will be the most scrutinized in our history

where 
lack of evidence
will once again
invalidate speculation

07/24/2026

History Lesson

By posting signs outside national history museums 

declaring some of the facts inside as inaccurate

Mr. Trump is contributing a modern-day demonstration

on the historical practice of ‘whitewashing’

07/26/2026

“Every man who has a journal is a narcissist”

Katie Miller, former communications director for Mike Pence and wife of Stephen Miller, in response to the public release of Dr. Anthony Fauci's personal pandemic diaries.

You just never know 
what outlandish things people will say 
to save themselves when being accused
of consorting with the enemy

07/31/2026

International Comfort Food

(for Lawrence Ferlinghetti)

and they came by the thousands

to celebrate the newest additions 

to the international contingent

of tired huddled masses

to give us a hug 

and a pat on the back 

and say 

don't worry, our proud 

and downtrodden 

brothers and sisters

we will stand with you still

and raise a glass to toast 

your once great notions

and sing your freedom song 

in stadiums full of hope

while you slowly awaken 

from your fever dream

and fear not 

for when this is all over

we shall welcome you 

back into the fold

like the family drunk the morning after

sleeping on the front lawn

from an all night bender

and we shall take back with us

to our once shit-hole countries

that no longer seem so different

in these troubled times

your gifts to the world 

that they may bring 

comfort and hope

to carry us all forward 

into the dawn 

of a changing world order:

Mac-n-Cheese 

and Ranch Dressing.

God Bless America.

FIFA World Cup Soccer 2026, North America, 2026

Scent

 

I doubt that dogs

who work diligently
using all of nature’s fragrances
to create their own unique scent

could ever understand
this new generation
of humans

who walk them slowly
staring at cell phones
uninterested in the surroundings

yet work so diligently
applying clouds of synthetic chemicals
to hide their own unique scent


July 2026        Van Niddy Press

Evening Journal: June 2026

 

Appreciating
ancient Chinese poetry–
peace comes easily

06/02/2026

The Earworm

If I play the song
that is stuck in my head
at least the music

will be in sync

06/03/2026

There is a noticeable accuracy in the number
of applicable holistic remedies and stretching exercises
offered for my review by Facebook based solely 
on my place in the demographic of the ancients 

06/05/2026

“…the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP…”

–Donald J. Trump, on Truth Social, responding to musicians withdrawing from the Great American State Fair, May 2026

“Do you wish people to think well of you? Don’t speak well of yourself.”

–Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), French mathematician and philosopher

​06/06/2026

Dear County Registrars,
counting and validating votes correctly is important 
so if you need to do it again to be sure you got it right
please do and take all the time you need.

We’ll wait.

06/08/2026

A narcissistic sociopath 
obsessed with his image and legacy
rebuked from putting his face on our currency 
and his name on a building dedicated to someone else
publishes pictures of himself as Jesus, the Pope, 
and a U.S. Air Force pilot dropping feces on protesters.

That should get him in solid with the historians.

06/09/2026

Things I Learned in School

Someone disagreeing with you 

does not make them “a stupid person.”

Someone asking for evidence that supports your claims 

does not make them “either crooked or stupid.”

-Donald Trump interviewed on Meet The Press by Kristen Welker

06/10/2026

Sadly appropriate how The National Reflecting Pool 
filthy and discolored with an unnatural coating
now casts an accurate reflection 
of the person who last touched it.

06/19/2026

When I saw the abbreviated headline

“Federal Court Rejects Trump’s Case…”

I quickly identified it as good news 

requiring no further details.

06/23/2026

If you choose
to sit there in silence
they might think
you are one of them
and at that point
you might as well be.

06/24/2026