To the editor:

Clean air to breath, clean water to drink,

Political parties with people who think,

A democracy that’s worth valuing,

These are a few of my favorite things.

Agency experts whose voices we heed,

Courts of justice where we can plead,

No branches of government purging,

These are a few of my favorite things.

Whales in oceans, no gyres of plastics,

A media that eschews bombastics,

Candidates who speak without libeling,

These are a few of my favorite things.

When the courts abuse,

When the lies are spread,

When DC looks like Leningrad,

I simply remember my favorite things,

And then I don’t feel so bad.

An interior protecting our national parks,

Freedom to study bondage and Marx,

An OSHA empowered with corporate chastening,

These are a few of my favorite things.

Social security for our old age,

An Institute of Health that addresses plagues,

A nation that does not elect a king,

These are a few of my favorite things.

When rabble rules,

Project 2025’s made law,

When I’m feeling mad,

I simply remember my favorite things,

And then I don’t feel so bad.

Judith Black

Marblehead