Congress (Seemingly Sold, Seemingly Byzantine)
Pants On Fire (As In Liar Liar)
Congress (Seemingly Sold, Seemingly Byzantine)
It was ever a country of old men.
Some young have come of late who are even more
stale, though they proclaimate with a vigor
not often seen in rigor mortis. What then
was wrong, what they know to have been wrong,
they sing odes too, anthems with bombs bursting–
as if bombs were bubbles like those pursing
stuffs so closely held–their real estate long
shots, their inside bets in stocks, that donor
whose requests made so much sense (and dollars)–
Such faux outrage, such gyréd hollers–
the high dudgeon they rub like a boner–
No compromise to help the poor–for,
a human right is but a paltry thing
compared with that that goes ka-ching– Ka-ching
to keep a pol awake–on the House floor.
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Here’s a poem of sorts (yes, a draft, in that it’s just this minute taken shape) for Kerry O’Connor’s wonderful challenge on With Real Toads to use octaves–like Yeats. I would like to try for a more lyrical poem, but here’s one that makes (very minor) references to Yeats ‘ great poem, Sailing to Byzantium, in honor of the prompt.
Note that with all my poems, the pauses are not to be taken at the ends of lines unless punctuated, i.e. with a dash or period or comma.
An odd pic, but one I had–no time to make new tonight.
Explore posts in the same categories: poetry, UncategorizedTags: Can they get more hypocritical, Congress--Seemingly Sold Seemingly Byzantine, congressional idiocy poem, good high dudgeon lines are hard to come by, manicddaily, Octave Poem
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ManicDDaily 
June 14, 2014 at 10:13 pm
That must have been some discussion or argument ~
The picture made me smile ~ Have a lovely weekend K ~
June 14, 2014 at 10:14 pm
Thanks–it’s really about the U.S. political scene –good for you in Canada not having to follow it! k.
June 14, 2014 at 10:13 pm
A great read, with heavy words and sounds. Powerful and thoughtful.
I specially liked this bit: ‘they proclaimate with a vigor
not often seen in rigor mortis’.
June 14, 2014 at 10:14 pm
And if I may say so, I found your tags really amusing.
June 14, 2014 at 10:15 pm
Thanks! K.
June 14, 2014 at 10:15 pm
Thanks. k.
June 14, 2014 at 10:57 pm
Passionate write, cool with the form.
June 15, 2014 at 12:11 am
“……they proclaimate with a vigor / not often seen in rigor mortis”..a perfect portrayal of the sorry state of affairs of the present times…a
truthful capture…
June 15, 2014 at 1:37 am
The Byzantine is not just the old.. It’s a state of mind of deep pockets and lies.. Yes I think I’ve seen it..
June 15, 2014 at 6:39 am
Yes,it is,with many arcane meandering a–in this case, rules.though I was honestly mainly thinking of Yeats’ first line and the one about the soul clap it’s hands and sing and the drowsy emperor.
June 15, 2014 at 2:06 am
Great write K! For one moment I thought this has a lot to do with political satire or politics somehow! The politicians are in rigor mortis most times!
Hank
June 15, 2014 at 12:02 pm
i would’ve never thought on using the word Byzantine in a political poem…but it def. fits well…and björn is right…it’s a mindset
June 15, 2014 at 2:18 pm
thats a cute picture!! 🙂 did u actually draw it??
June 15, 2014 at 2:44 pm
Yes. I do almost all if my own visuals. Thanks . K/
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June 15, 2014 at 3:40 pm
“A human right is but a paltry thing”. This line hurt because it’s sadly true. Your poem is beautiful. Lyrical but grounded.
Greetings from London.
June 15, 2014 at 4:31 pm
human rights is a paltry thing…
i fear all politicians are cut from the same clothe…
to expect different seems to be insanity…
June 15, 2014 at 5:53 pm
I think politicians are the same the world over. The few that commence with a good heart eventually succumb to greed – well maybe not all of them – but I’ve yet to find one…
Anna :o]
June 16, 2014 at 1:56 am
I was thrilled from the first line – what an excellent allusion to Yeats – and how you have adapted the lines of Sailing to Byzantium to a commentary on a current event. I also like your phrasing, in this poem that is not written line for line but rather focuses on constructing an argument which runs its natural course through the form.
Many thanks for applying your very talented hand to this challenge.
June 16, 2014 at 6:12 am
Thanks so much, Kerry. I’d like to do a straighter one–line for line–but this one seemed to come out in this funny format. It was a great prompt and, of course, I love “Sailing to Byzantium.” I should have consulted the full poem earlier, I thought, and maybe linked up more, but I am so irritated at the US congress, I mainly focused on them. Thanks as always for your kind reading. K. >
June 16, 2014 at 8:41 pm
Hi Karin ~~ I like their theme song (not), ” goes ka-ching– Ka-ching.” This is pretty much universal though there are a few who might actually not want to get rich from being in office.
I once ran for office-Justice of the Peace, and got beat in the general election 49+% to 50+. My opponent actually went into the closed counting room before the results were announced. Texas politics at the grass roots.
My lawyer thing was a mid-life change-college, then leaving aerospace engineering with NASA. It will have lasted 40 years next spring. I taught college Business Law for 22 years before I retired.
..
June 17, 2014 at 1:33 pm
You have this right. The sad part is, there are so many more of us than there are of them. Yet we are stuck, term after term, with the best Congress money can buy. It does begin to look hopeless.
However…you do so will in fitting this contemporary phenomena into the octaves–so naturally and completely and smoothly. With a great final line.
Steve K.
June 18, 2014 at 11:48 am
The language here is very chewy and interesting, k–even to my less than gleaming mental cogs. You know I share your feelings–I was going to say, of frustration, but they go well beyond that any more. It is really with fear that I think of our Congress–fear of what they will do next to this country that used to be so much happier and healthier. Thanks for articulating it all with such dry wit and scathing insight. (Sorry to be absent of late–getting better, tho.)
June 18, 2014 at 12:47 pm
So glad you are feeling better. I have been very under the gun at work and had no time, but am hoping things open up. k.
On Wed, Jun 18, 2014 at 12:48 PM, ManicDDaily wrote:
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June 19, 2014 at 12:35 am
not ‘seemingly’, unfortunately. I really like your rants, k. been feeling particularly un-writer-ly of late, sorry for the absence ~
June 19, 2014 at 6:53 pm
gosh your repeating words and sounds are quite effective here, i even found myself wanting more of that. get on it, will ya?