by Ed Bennett
SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: Well, Bob, we should not be judged on how many new laws we create. We ought to be judged on how many laws that we repeal.
And each broken bridge,
each rutted road paid for,
abandoned by our indolence,
these are the marks of progress.
Every hungry stomach rumble,
every second job to meet ends,
every idle worker without benefits,
these are the stories of self reliance
by those of us, four hundred fifty strong
(more or less)
who get full time pay
for part time legislation
(or none at all)
and nothing to show except
a blockade of obfuscation,
an obdurate session with
our greatest strength:
a calculated, orchestrated
shout of "NO!".
I am their leader,
the New Moses,
who would rather
sit in the desert heat
than move on to promises.
Let me lead you, brothers and sisters,
away from the evil of the Common Good;
kneel with me here in this desolate 'scape
to worship the imaginary calf
of a Laughing Baal.
Ed Bennett is a poet and reviewer living in Las Vegas, NV. His works have appeared in The Externalist, Touch: The Journal of Healing, The Lavender Review, Quill and Parchment and Lilipo. He is a staff editor for Quill and Parchment Magazine, the recipient of a Pushcart Nomination and the author of “A Transit of Venus”.