Thursday, November 04, 2004

A Sonnet from the Burning Bush

I’m having trouble accepting democracy’s verdict. Everything is broken and I can’t bear to watch it break some more. History is an interest of mine, and politics has always held some fascination for me. But I can’t read a thing about this ongoing nightmare. I even turned off NPR this afternoon. I’ll study these current events when it’s long gone and history. If I get the chance. And I certainly can’t write anything direct.
Racing Revelations

Start your engines. God is in the stands—
his twelve cheerleaders glorify Home Depot.
They raise the house and gain the hinterland’s
respect for playing five card stud with Romeo.
Juliet fills up with desert sun,
mistaking Midland for some promised land
where sand is hotter than an overdone
filet mignon and cooler than the brand
imprinted on his F-1 racing car.
The race is run on tracks of panic paved
in oil and aged balsamic vinegar.
In the last stretch, his salad days are saved
by quaint mechanics dressed in robes of white.
The bookies pocket history’s copyright.
For now I’ll say it in tongues.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know if I can take 4 more years.

Anonymous said...

Profound--both your post and my sadness.

Feithline said...

::sigh::

I'm profoundly moved by what's happening, but I refuse to despair. I guess it's easier for me since I don't live in the States, but my hope and thoughts are with those of you that do.

Feithy

Mark Lamoureux said...

That's a good one!

I've been given to avoiding the news for the most part since yesterday also, though my girlfriend has been pretty voraciously consuming media so osmotically I'm taking some of it in.

It is difficult to find solace in much. Generally I content myself with the thought that if things get too bad I can always leave. Though this is more or less equal to have been driven from my home. Though I am ethnically French Canadian, so a move to Canada would be returning to the real homeland in some respects. (My ancestors were driven from Acadia a la "Evangeline")

It is also important to remember that we live an an area which is blue all the way down to the Mason-Dixon line. It is indeed a very divided nation. We can at least know that nearly half of the population will do their best to limit the lasting effects of this last term of W's presidency.

It is perhaps politically incorrect, but I will point out that their side may have the brawn, but ours has the brains. We may have lost this battle, but it is not the end of the struggle...

Dr J said...

You have my dearest (and direst) sympathies, though you might have known it: the BoSox winning the Series wasn't going to come without a price.

It's jarring, very jarring. It seems America has now had one of those horrifying watershed moments, and I'm a bit alarmed that Leonard Cohen may have been more than a tad prophetic. The rest of the world has now been utterly shocked and awed.

I have to say, my Canuckistani citizenship has never seemed as sweet as it does right now.

son rivers said...

Jilly, I know what you mean. But join me in just ignoring his very presence. Turn him off.

Anonymous, thanks for the condolences.

Feith, thank you too. And I apologize for my country's gross mistake.

Mark, cousin! I too am Acadian. My ancestors (aka Poirier et al) escaped to PEI. Maybe we should too.

Dr. J. Thank you. Please remember us in your prayers. And condolences on the NHL.