RJM Unlimited
Poet, Lyricist, Father, Wonder Lover, Hopefully Kind Person
This website includes the poems and songs and musings of Robert J. McBride. The poems speak for themselves. The songs help the poems find their voice. The musings are just that and cover a variety of subjects; some are amusing and some are not. The songs are the result of collaboration with family or friends who have musical talent and can make songs using my poems/lyrics and occasional melodies. The collaborators have included golf buddies (nicknamed “Unplayable Lies) as well as my son-in-law, Jason Baskin, and my daughters, Amy Baskin and Maureen McBride. My wife, Jackie, also provided her talents. However, the main contributor has been my friend and song-writing partner, Rob Volpintesta of Angel Thorne Studios in Bethel, CT. Finally, there is a children's book at the end which was inspired by our daughter, Sally, and was brilliantly illustrated by Jason Baskin as well as a few short stories.
My deepest gratitude to those who collaborated to make the songs happen. And thanks to anyone who listens to the songs or reads the poems or musings or children's book or short stories. I hope you like them.
Featured piece of the day (poem or music or whatever). It's also in it's normal place; you can find it on the TOC below but you have to use the menu (top left) to get to it (or anything else).
RJM
11/22-27/2024
Manifest Destiny?
(What Keeps Me Up at Night)
What would you do with all the money
To try to do the greatest good
How could you make a lasting difference
If you used wealth and power as you should
If you were Elon or Jeff Bezos
Or some other rich guy like the Pope
What would you do to make life better
To give the planet a chance to hope
Could you give humans a soft landing
From the dire trajectory we’re on
Or is the cause already hopeless
And our chances are already gone
Would you attempt a total cure
So your progeny could breathe fresh air
So life on Earth could endure
Or is it time for palliative care
It makes a difference in the steps to take
How much more does the Earth have to give
How drastic the changes we’d make
How many generations get to live
Overpopulation, tribalism,
Greed, bigotry, and fear
Some of mankind’s greatest problems
That increase from year to year
How about the folks that fan them
Til the flames consume the earth
Could they be bought and muzzled
How much would that be worth
Is cheap solar part of the solution
Producing free energy from the sun
And causing much less pollution
Than what mining and fracking have done
When does the good life become excessive
Why do we want things for their own sake
When others have to scrape for a mouthful
There’s no bread and there’s sure no cake
I think a change is coming
We’ve just installed another king
And a return to older values
Is what he is promising to bring
Back when right and wrong were simpler
Back when your neighbor looked like you
Back when our history was respected
Before BLM and woke told you what to do
Back when the Civil War had heroes
Before we acknowledged our fatal flaw
Back when civility was enshrined
Unless you weren’t covered by the law
When being white didn’t make you guilty
For unfair brutality of the past
When blacks were becoming more equal
But not too soon and not so fast
When blacks were getting more chances
To go to war and play some sports
But not to live in white neighborhoods
Or answer white taunts with black retorts
Now the far left seems so far out there
Leaving tradition and morality behind
Bible belting and gender bending
Are hard to accept for the orderly mind
Governments can’t fix these problems
With legislation or executive orders
Do wealthy men have a better chance
Because their wealth has no borders
But wealth always seems self-serving
Like they just need a little more
It’s always been the case with kings
Who would gladly take us to war
In fact, money is not the answer
It’s more like the problem, I think
And power and greed make it a cancer
Til the world is trembling on the brink
On an over-populated planet
That values GNP’s and wealth
More than the future of our children
And their dependence on the Earth’s health
It’s right here to see but some aren’t looking
We’re like lobsters in the pot
By the time we see that we’re cooking
It’s too late because it’s already too hot
I’m afraid it will take some disasters
Of some draconian sort or another
Like plagues or famines or floods
To make clear we must care for our Mother
We can’t go on raping our planet
As though other life forms are not alive
Humans are not the only things sacred
We need the others if we are to survive
I guess I’m not sure where this leaves me
What are the actions that I should take
I’ve been so blessed by love and family
It’s for their future that I stay awake
Do I stop driving, flying, and buying
And live in modest isolation
Ignore the thermostat and eat local produce
Extending life by a billionth of a generation
Although miniscule the answer is yes
I must play my small part with the changers
Now I see that Jimmy and Al were right
Greta and others pointed out the dangers
We’re myopic to talk about life spans past 100
While the planet is on life support
We think we’re far-sighted but we’ve blundered
Now we’re down to our last resort
Even if talk of global warming is unfounded
And the scientists are completely wrong
It still makes sense to be kind to our planet
Because there’s no other where we belong
RJM
11/22-27/2024
Manifest Destiny?
(What Keeps Me Up at Night)
What would you do with all the money
To try to do the greatest good
How could you make a lasting difference
If you used wealth and power as you should
If you were Elon or Jeff Bezos
Or some other rich guy like the Pope
What would you do to make life better
To give the planet a chance to hope
Could you give humans a soft landing
From the dire trajectory we’re on
Or is the cause already hopeless
And our chances are already gone
Would you attempt a total cure
So your progeny could breathe fresh air
So life on Earth could endure
Or is it time for palliative care
It makes a difference in the steps to take
How much more does the Earth have to give
How drastic the changes we’d make
How many generations get to live
Overpopulation, tribalism,
Greed, bigotry, and fear
Some of mankind’s greatest problems
That increase from year to year
How about the folks that fan them
Til the flames consume the earth
Could they be bought and muzzled
How much would that be worth
Is cheap solar part of the solution
Producing free energy from the sun
And causing much less pollution
Than what mining and fracking have done
When does the good life become excessive
Why do we want things for their own sake
When others have to scrape for a mouthful
There’s no bread and there’s sure no cake
I think a change is coming
We’ve just installed another king
And a return to older values
Is what he is promising to bring
Back when right and wrong were simpler
Back when your neighbor looked like you
Back when our history was respected
Before BLM and woke told you what to do
Back when the Civil War had heroes
Before we acknowledged our fatal flaw
Back when civility was enshrined
Unless you weren’t covered by the law
When being white didn’t make you guilty
For unfair brutality of the past
When blacks were becoming more equal
But not too soon and not so fast
When blacks were getting more chances
To go to war and play some sports
But not to live in white neighborhoods
Or answer white taunts with black retorts
Now the far left seems so far out there
Leaving tradition and morality behind
Bible belting and gender bending
Are hard to accept for the orderly mind
Governments can’t fix these problems
With legislation or executive orders
Do wealthy men have a better chance
Because their wealth has no borders
But wealth always seems self-serving
Like they just need a little more
It’s always been the case with kings
Who would gladly take us to war
In fact, money is not the answer
It’s more like the problem, I think
And power and greed make it a cancer
Til the world is trembling on the brink
On an over-populated planet
That values GNP’s and wealth
More than the future of our children
And their dependence on the Earth’s health
It’s right here to see but some aren’t looking
We’re like lobsters in the pot
By the time we see that we’re cooking
It’s too late because it’s already too hot
I’m afraid it will take some disasters
Of some draconian sort or another
Like plagues or famines or floods
To make clear we must care for our Mother
We can’t go on raping our planet
As though other life forms are not alive
Humans are not the only things sacred
We need the others if we are to survive
I guess I’m not sure where this leaves me
What are the actions that I should take
I’ve been so blessed by love and family
It’s for their future that I stay awake
Do I stop driving, flying, and buying
And live in modest isolation
Ignore the thermostat and eat local produce
Extending life by a billionth of a generation
Although miniscule the answer is yes
I must play my small part with the changers
Now I see that Jimmy and Al were right
Greta and others pointed out the dangers
We’re myopic to talk about life spans past 100
While the planet is on life support
We think we’re far-sighted but we’ve blundered
Now we’re down to our last resort
Even if talk of global warming is unfounded
And the scientists are completely wrong
It still makes sense to be kind to our planet
Because there’s no other where we belong
Table of Contents (press the MENU icon on the upper left next to RJM UNLIMITED to get to the contents)
Music Videos (not really videos; just the words with a few pics here and there)
Music w/o Videos (The lyrics are under the songs)
Poems (they must be poems; they rhyme)
Musings (Some things to think about)
Children's Book
Short Stories (New for me but I'm having fun and sorting some things out)
Music Videos (not really videos; just the words with a few pics here and there)
- Division
- Life is Art
- AI
- Ends and Means
- A Colorful Song
- Not As Good As You
- We're All Fools
- Life Is Fatal
- One Great Life
- Planning Ahead (Future Tense)
- Not Bad People
- Sally Anne
- My Gal
- Fertilizer
- Naïve Song
- Addis
- The Curtain
- Pictures (Instrumental)
- Pictures
- Slow Green
- Long Distance Time
- Prime Time Choice
- Not Short on Longing - Her/Him
Music w/o Videos (The lyrics are under the songs)
- I Could Have Been Great
- Mix It Up and Shake It
- Chances
- Causes
- Bred Alone
- Daft
- Wouldn't Trade
- Talia Anne
- Attraction
- Mama
- Regrets
- Not Thirsty Anymore
- Devoid
- Malibu
- Moving On
- So Much To Gain
- Lucky (In Love)
- Wind, Earth, and Sky
- Competition
- Going Sixty
- California Cate
- Philosopher's Lament
- Life
- Time Walks
- Wasted Time
Poems (they must be poems; they rhyme)
- Artistic Freedom
- Anti-Procrastination
- Going Back to Ground Zero
- Brain Dread
- At War With God
- An Act of Contrition
- Relativity
- Capricorn to Cancer
- Dual Duel
- Oh, My God ... Oh My, God
- For Give and For Get
- Cosmic Currency
- Revelations
- In Pursuit
- Not Buying It
- Callous Cruel Lies
- Rx for Commercial Suckscess
- Ba Da Bing (A Modern Love Story?)
- The New Economy
- Religion Isn't Worth a Damn (Loaves and Fish Sticks)
- Anti Christ
- Power Ball
- Attack on America
- Social Progress
- Farmer Otto
- Randy Link
- Class Act
- Equal and Opposite
- Loud To Be an American
- Good News, Bad News
- Tense
- Legacy of Love
- Responsibility
- A Brief History in Rhyme
- Sports
- Poetic License
- Golfer's Blues
- Sir Cumference
- Trees
- Fading
- Just Because
- The Big Test
- Contemplation
- Bwa Bwa Book
- Memes to an End
- I'm a Poet
- Coaxing Out the Spark
- Daynight
- Brain Drops
- Taps
- Here To Be
- Like Hell
- Empathy and Kindness
- Frustration and Rage
- Pretending
- Building an Inheritance
- The Same Amount of Sunlight
- Angry Artists
- Ode #1 to 3
- Manifest Destiny (What Keeps Me Up at Night)
Musings (Some things to think about)
- The Initial Musings cover such diverse topics as the creation stories, the theory of relativity, and the international date line. There are a few poems and pictures mixed in to provide a little light relief from the heavy subjects and tedious prose.
- Subsequent Musings address Fundamental Divides in the way our nation views political issues, my views on religion and spirituality in God Is Love, and my dream of a new and better political party called Responsible Party. There are also some thoughts on the state of politics and power in the world and in America mulled over in Power Struggles. And Christianity is considered in The Tangled Web. A similar musing is titled Creation Stories and Their Impact.
Children's Book
- The Gdoodledoo (Pronounced like Ga-doodle-do)
Short Stories (New for me but I'm having fun and sorting some things out)
- Fruber's Theory - (How the Multiverse Was Discovered)
- The Holiday Conversation