BONUS SONNET: In Which I Chime In My Support For Keeping The Fremont Peak Observatory Open

If education is a public good,

As we so like to claim, then how can we

Allow this kind of thing to happen? Would

The savings made outweigh the loss we'd see?

The Fremont Peak Observatory has

A mission to allow the public's eye

To look out far beyond our planet, as

We should if we are to survive. That sky

Above us e'er should lure us to surpass

Our paltry buildings, cities, monuments

And think about our destiny. The glass

There opens minds. Yet I fear common sense

Says budget cuts will take it. So I dare

All those who love it to cough up a share.

Sonnet Rant: I Am Somewhat Disappointed In The Great State Of California This Afternoon

It's possible that I was in denial.

I thought for sure that Proposition 8

Would soon be headed for that growing file

Of stupid laws we laugh at and berate

Our ancestors for having on their books:

Like banning public bowling, or the play

of dominoes on Sunday, but it looks

As though in California, if you're gay,

You'd better have already tied the knot

With your sweetheart. And if you've yet to find

The right one, plan to elope to Vermont.

They used to say that Iowa's behind

The times, but now the Golden State would seem

To have gone back to the first age of steam.