[A found poem based on Newt Gingrich’s comments after being asked about having an extramarital affair while leading the charge against President Clinton over Monica Lewinsky, and if that might be considered hypocritical.]
Certainly
at times I’ve fallen short of my own standards.
at times I’ve fallen short of God’s standards,
there were times
when I was praying,
when I was doing wrong things
but
I was still doing them.
I look back on those times as
periods of weakness,
periods I'm not proud of.
I ran the risk of
being deeply embarrassed,
but
the president committed a felony.
I did not render judgment
on another human being;
I drew a line in my mind.
As a leader
of the government
trying to uphold the rule of law
I had no choice
except
to move forward—
you cannot accept perjury
in your highest officials.
“The honest answer is yes.”*
*Newt Gingrich, 3/9/2007
SuzAnne C. Cole writes from a studio in the woods in the Texas Hill Country and finds herself, a bit to her surprise, becoming more and more liberal as she ages. Perhaps it's thinking about the world her three grandsons and forthcoming granddaughter will inherit. A writer for many years, she's published more than 300 poems, essays, short stories, and plays in a variety of publications from commercial to academic. She was a juried poet at the 2003 and 2005 Houston Poetry fests and a featured poet at the 2004 event.