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Home Poetry

Poems Based on Kamala Harris Speeches, by Jeff Kemper

November 15, 2023
in Poetry, Satire
A A
31

.

Assorted Sonic Salads (i.e., Kamalisms)

being the first installment of a repository of wisdom from the Vice
President of the United States of America. Edited by Jeff Kemper

.

Space!

Exciting insight cited from a speech
at the Vandenburg Space Force Base
in Vandenburg, CA on 18 April 2022

Space is exciting
For all our flighting
Imaginations it spurs.
And big questions it confers.
Space! It affects us all,
And it connects us all!

.

Work Together!

from Paris on 12 November 2021

Today we must, indeed, together,
Work together, this we must,
To see just where we are and just
Where we will soon be headed, whether
Here or there, and beat the dust
To where we’re going, and our vision,
Yes, our view of where we should be,
But to see with great precision,
See it as a moment, could we,
Yes, together, face the stress?
These challenges we must address!

.

Culture

the definitely definitive definition of culture;
orated at the 2023 Essence Festival of Culture, June 2023

So, culture is reflection—am I right?—
Of this, our moment, and of our own time.
And present culture is the way we might
Express our feeling of the moment. I’m

So very sure that we should always find
The times to then express our feeling—how
We feel about the moment. Bear in mind
It’s a reflection of that joy that—wow!—

Comes in the morning. [chuckle, chuckle, chuck]
We have to find how to express the way
We feel about the moment, not get stuck,
But having language and connection, say,

To how the folks experience life’s brew.
This is the way I think about it, too.

.

.

Jeff Kemper has been a biology teacher, biblical studies instructor, editor, and painting contractor. He lives in York County, Pennsylvania.

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Comments 31

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson says:
    2 years ago

    And to think she is next in line to become president! The non sequiturs and discombobulated speech patterns certainly are “much ado about nothing.” The profundity of idiots is profound and yet unfounded! LOL.

    Reply
    • Jeff Kemper says:
      2 years ago

      And “LOL” is the perfect analysis of Lady Kamala.

      Reply
  2. James Sale says:
    2 years ago

    Quite, quite brilliant: I love it. You capture the inanity, the moronic vacancy with aplomb, precision and wit: heck, you should be doing the Poet’s Inaugural Address next time round – that would be some real fun!

    Reply
    • Jeff Kemper says:
      2 years ago

      Thanks, James. I just paraphrased the master!

      Reply
  3. Joseph S. Salemi says:
    2 years ago

    Harris is the epitome of brain-dead, emotion-driven liberalism. The fact that she can’t stop laughing indicates some kind or neuro-cerebral disorder.

    Reply
    • Jeff Kemper says:
      2 years ago

      Ya think! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

      Reply
  4. ABB says:
    2 years ago

    Thank you for making (or discovering, rather) this important contribution to the English language. May the Kamalism be remembered and imitated for centuries wherever buffoons are inspiring literary anti-wisdom.

    Reply
    • Jeff Kemper says:
      2 years ago

      I think half of American citizens (and many more who will not admit it in public) have jointly discovered this startling phenomenon. The entire English-speaking world ought to be practicing this new art form. I’m doing my part to memorialize it.

      Reply
  5. Cynthia Erlandson says:
    2 years ago

    We are the hollow women, “headpiece filled with straw”! Jeff, I was laughing out loud at the creative way you reproduce (yet poetrically!) the emptiness — her abuse of words to say nothing!

    Reply
    • Jeff Kemper says:
      2 years ago

      Thank you, Cynthia. Sorry for the late response. The hollow women, plural? An apt quote, indeed! I’m wondering, whom else might you include in Kamala’s elite company?

      Reply
  6. Margaret Coats says:
    2 years ago

    A marvelous concept, Jeff. It is difficult to depict a combination of ignorance and thoughtlessness, but you have managed it here, reproducing the ordinary flow of ideas in this speaker’s now well-known style.

    Reply
    • Jeff Kemper says:
      2 years ago

      Thank you, Margaret. I slaved for hours on end to get these right.

      That was a lie, since there was very little to get right. I have gathered a collection of 30 Kamalisms to work on in my spare time when I feel like not thinking, of which I’ve completed about eight. And there is more than a year to collect more, and, God forbid, possibly four years worth beyond that!

      Reply
  7. Norma Pain says:
    2 years ago

    Kamala Harris certainly has a lot of words to say about nothing in particular and laughs her way through it all. She is just peachy. Thank you for these poems Jeff.

    Reply
    • Jeff Kemper says:
      2 years ago

      You’re welcome, Norma. “Peachy,” huh? I think that would be a wonderful way to actively appreciate her, instead of being caught up in embarrassment, disgust, anger, and mockery. Perhaps, after her political carreer is over, she’ll give us more to chew on, say, on CNN or another wacko media outlet. The possibil;ities are endless and peachy.

      Reply
  8. Cheryl Corey says:
    2 years ago

    Love how you went from chuckle to chuck.

    Reply
    • C.B. Anderson says:
      2 years ago

      It’s the sound that a chicken makes, Cheryl, though it’s usually rendered: cluckle cluckle cluck.

      Reply
    • Jeff Kemper says:
      2 years ago

      I think in that Kamalism that is where she actually did laugh.

      Reply
  9. C.B. Anderson says:
    2 years ago

    I hope, Jeff, that wrapping your mind around the words of such an inane person didn’t cause you any lasting brain damage. These poems were not parodies — they were just too damn true to life to be that.

    Reply
    • Jeff Kemper says:
      2 years ago

      You’re correct, C.B.; they are poetic paraphrases. As to the extent of brain damage I have incurred, I’m old enough that people will attribute it to aging. And besides, they were fun to write, so that is worth the brain damage.

      Reply
  10. Susan Jarvis Bryant says:
    2 years ago

    Jeff, I love these… you have managed to create engaging poems from downright drivel and make this reader laugh while admiring your humor and creative talent – a unique feat! Very well done indeed!

    Reply
    • Jeff Kemper says:
      2 years ago

      Thank you, Susan. I plan to extend my collection. It’s great fun.

      Reply
  11. Joshua C. Frank says:
    2 years ago

    It’s really difficult to make fun of nonsense well, without sounding as if you’re the nonsense-spouting speaker. Well done.

    Without the title, I would have thought you were making fun of a lot of the free verse I’ve seen.

    Reply
    • Jeff Kemper says:
      2 years ago

      Thanks, Joshua. Actually I’ve been thinking about parodying free verse but have no idea how to do it. Most free verse I’ve read parodies itself.

      Reply
      • Joshua C. Frank says:
        2 years ago

        Here are a few examples:

        https://classicalpoets.org/2020/03/23/if-a-contemporary-free-verse-poet-wrote-a-sonnet-a-poem-and-brief-essay/
        https://classicalpoets.org/2023/03/21/how-to-write-contemporary-poetry-and-brush-up-your-shakespeare-by-brian-yapko/
        https://classicalpoets.org/2021/04/14/how-to-write-a-formal-poem-that-doesnt-seem-like-one-and-other-poetry-by-c-b-anderson/

        Reply
  12. Geoffrey Smagacz says:
    2 years ago

    The only thing I like about Harris is her laugh. Despite its being oddly inappropriate, it’s hearty and infectious. She makes me laugh.

    Reply
  13. Jeff Kemper says:
    2 years ago

    Yes, she’s quite engaging with her laugh. The Biden-Harris duo is one of the funniest comedic acts I’ve seen.

    Reply
  14. Mia says:
    2 years ago

    I congratulate you in being able to write good poems from word salad!
    I have been tinkering with two poems on the same subject, and although rather good at word salads myself, the poetry lets me down.
    Perhaps a challenge on word salad poems may be in order, what do you think?

    Reply
  15. Jeff Kemper says:
    2 years ago

    Thank you, Mia. That’s a good idea.

    Reply
  16. Sally Cook says:
    2 years ago

    Jeff, I have always been a devotee of skunks, but recently realized I had no idea what their speech patterns were, let alone the basics of their language. Put a friend on it, a good researcher – and he came up with a recording of a short skunk speech.

    It goes like this:
    Four snuffles followed by an “arf”

    You have helped me immensely in my poetic endeavors. Can’t thank you enough, ha ha.

    Reply
  17. Jeff Kemper says:
    2 years ago

    Glad I could be of some help! He, he, he, he, he!
    You wouldn’t be making some kind of comparison, would you?

    Reply
  18. Flodis says:
    1 year ago

    Yoda from Start Wars would be proud.

    Mastering it yet, she does not do.

    Reply

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