31.1.09

My niece

I feel empathy for my niece
Having come of age under Ronald Reagan
And she a generation later under George Bush, the Lesser
While Ronnie did not convert me to conservatism
W. has made my niece one of these viral liberals
Who, already overestimating their own righteousness
Do not take a step back to create one half of what could be common ground
But inch forward, cutting off all routes of escape
Reinforced by an almost Balkan sense of injustice
At what should have been
Had someone’s fumbling grandmother
Her face obscured by a broad brimmed hat
To fight an early November Floridian sun
Not mistakenly marked the ballot (what happens when a butterfly flaps its wings?)
Next to the image of Pat Buchanan
Or been unable to pierce the 92 pound card stock
I knew boys named Chad at school
But twenty years from now you are unlikely to find one under 30 years old
Unless it was a family name or given with some sense of irony
Now, my niece, like so many, are chuck full of hope
“Chuck full” one of those rare individual intensifiers we have in English
Hope that one rare individual can defy inertia
His only hope that the incompetence of George W. Bush
Warranted the reprisals and that this opposition
Will behave in the opposite manner

4 comments:

Brendan O'Malley said...

Thought it was chock full.

Brendan O'Malley said...

Uh, just realized that was a lame thing to type after a great poem. sorry.
love the 'one rare individual can defy inertia' line...

and the thought that 20 years from now you won't find a Chad under 30 years of age.
great

Anonymous said...

You say you never read him but I sense a strong backing of Hunter S. Thompson in your writing.

On Reagan, Bush, Carter (he counts), Bush jr., Obama, and worst of all Nixon, they led the way to destroying this Earth and it's people. Those to come will do the same:
"They claim their labours are to build a heaven, yet their heaven is populated with horrors. Perhaps the world is not made. Perhaps nothing is made. A clock without a craftsman. It's too late. Always has been, always will be…..too late." - Jon Osterman / Alan Moore
(Ali)

Buckeyballs said...

Vandalism of language is an equal opportunity sport.