Just today, Nov 4, 2025, I received this message from “Handy Barker” concerning this poem he wrote, which was quoted as a Dr. Seuss poem everywhere I could find it, or I would have attributed it to him. Here is the note I received from him, which I am publishing along with my apology:
Message:
Funny that you borrowed my Dr. Seuss poem from 2015. I was recently retired in Roseburg Oregon as a HS Drama teacher and saw all the chaos between HIllary and Bernie and how divisive it was to call Bernie a “Socialist” when “Democratic Socialist” was more accurate. I spent a whole morning researching the term “DS” and felt I could use my still-sharp skills of breaking down a complex idea and teaching it to people on my newly-opened FB account. I’ve changed it a bit since then, but I’ve often said I think Dr. Seuss is both the greatest teacher of the 20th century and the greatest writer because he could not only create effective anti-Nazi propaganda–with other brilliant creators Frank Capra and Stan Lee, who created Spiderman–but that he could teach us to unclench our closed minds with simple books a five year old could understand like in “Green Eggs and Ham”. I lost the original of this, but have found that if I google it, people from Oregon to China have posted it anonymously–which is how I saw it. In the face of the NYC election with Zohran Momdani running as a DS, I was looking for it and was grateful you have it here for me. Peace. Handy Barker
Again, sorry, Handy…
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 