The cliff our nation teeters on
while two parties can't agree
on taxing issues recalls pirates
who grab innocents at sea
bickering over just how long
a plank they need to make
their captives walk--for pirates,
compromise can be a piece of cake,
though, unlike for some officials
we've elected, sad to say,
who'd walk us over the fiscal cliff
rather than meet halfway.

How to fix this burning issue
before the end of December?
Let all in Congress vote on it
who aren't Tea Party members.
ROSS PLOVNICK


It's All Spent
The national debt is high;
cuts have not made a dent.
Both the federal budget
and all our patience are spent.
BUD BRAND

There once was a creature called homo erectus
Who invented money, trying to measure fairness.
They forgot to relate
For money each other they ate
Off the fiscal cliff they did fall, into poorness.
MIKE CURRAN


Among the ideas in Fiscal-Cliff fighting,
One proposal I find quite exciting:
Thirty-eight percent will make me feel great,
An actual reduction from the Fiscal-Cliff rate.
Now for the holidays I can relax
And eat with abandon per the logic of tax;
If I gain less than expected after filling my plate,
I can feel confident that I actually lost weight!
STEPHANIE THOMAS


I don't know the truth
About the Fiscal Cliff,
But I don't need any proof
To tell you it's scares me stiff!
At the end of the day
I can do nothing but wonder,
Even after I pray
It sends my feelings out yonder.
In the world we live
We could all bet,
Hard as we strive
We all carry a little debt!
When calamity strikes
And we teeter on the edge,
Then no one likes
To be missing a protective hedge!

Now as the world turns
And the leaders postulate,
While slowly countries burn
And the citizens agitate!

If leaders will commit
And put their heads together,
We should insist they permit
A solution that would last forever!
MARK BRANDOW


Congress, do something really bold!
Don't pick on the poor and the old!
Don't add to their woe
By cutting Medicaid and Social Security, No!
Instead cut the size of Congress, Yes!
Cut your salaries and benefits in excess.
Cut the size of the military too.
Bring home all the troops, long overdue.
To guard our utilities and borders too.

Congress, do something really bold!
Don't pick on the poor and the old!
Or, we'll vote you out in the cold!
MICHAEL P. STRAUSS

Fiscal, miscal, this is lame,
Do the job to stop this train.
To DC you're sent to do the work,
Listen, cajole, don't wob or shirk.

The cliff is looming, brake now to stop.
Your pride is showing; time to drop
The talk and sounds built of fear,
To hear new thoughts near and clear.

So listen first, then listen again,
Your enemy is your new friend.
Take a breath, start new and now,
Then thank the voters who taught you 'how.'
ANN TONSKEMPER

The Elephant and the Donkey both lie
As they argue over how to split the pie
So of course there is little trust
However they do have time for extramarital lust
As they run the entire country toward bust.
SCOTT BERTAS