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Submission Guidelines: Send 1-3 unpublished poems in the body of an email (NO ATTACHMENTS) to nvneditor[at]gmail.com. No simultaneous submissions. Use "Verse News Submission" as the subject line. Send a brief bio. No payment. Authors retain all rights after 1st-time appearance here. Scroll down the right sidebar for the fine print.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

LET ME COUNT THE WAYS

by Ed Shacklee

Propaganda Poster by Bas van Oerle

How do I love thee, Mitt?  Dear weathervane:
I love your trees, which are the proper height,
I love the tax returns you hide from sight,
And your uniquely retroactive flight
from outsourcing our country’s jobs at Bain.
I love your boardrooms, filled with sycophants,
and how you chose, not Vietnam, but France.
I love how you contort when you explain,
your forked tongue, each consonant and vowel;
I love how you resemble Thurston Howell.
I love thee to the vaults and snow-capped mounts
of Switzerland; your shy, offshore accounts.
I love how come November, Mitt, we’ll gloat
if you, or God, don’t take away my vote.


Ed Shacklee is a public defender who represents young people in the District of Columbia.  His poems have appeared at The Flea, Light Quarterly, The Raintown Review, Shot Glass Journal and Tilt-a-Whirl, among other places.
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