Tactical Molting
A candidate will often say:
_“Judge me for who I am.”
But peek beneath the surface and
_it might just be a sham.
A city slicker who is wearing
_cowboy boots and hat.
A lifelong vegetarian
_eats meat—imagine that!
They scrub their social media.
_The job is not complete
until they take down every tweet
_that’s cringe or indiscrete.
Their public statements from the past
_are easily resolved.
They say that they “misspoke” or that
_their thinking has “evolved.”
They will deny, deflect, dismiss
_to win in the election.
“That quote was out-of-context,” or
_“I have no recollection.”
Am I a rustic rube who just
_fell off the turnip truck?
Will I believe such sleight of hand?
_Sorry, no such luck.
They’re shifty, out to get our votes,
_deceptive to the core.
And if they win, their views snap back
_to what they were before.
So spare me, please, the double speak,
_the phony evolution.
I’ll boot them at the ballot box.
_Now that’s a great solution!
Positions taken in the past
_are difficult to shake.
A candidate who’s always molting
_might just be a snake.
Mark F. Stone worked as an attorney (active duty and civil service) for the United States Air Force for 33 years and is retired. He began writing poems in 2005, as a way to woo his bride-to-be into wedlock. His poems have been published by The Epoch Times, Light, Lighten Up Online, The Ohio Poetry Association, The Road Not Taken: The Journal of Formal Poetry, Ric Edelman’s The Truth About Your Future podcast, and the Seeking Alpha Alpha Picks podcast.
“Positions taken in the past are difficult to shake.” Now, Mark, I know persons who cringe at discussing past attitudes, and they are not even politicians. But usually I can overlook the matter until a double speaker claims to represent me or MY views. Then it’s time to “boot them at the ballot box.” Good versifying of applicable common sense!
Thanks for the read, Mark. You get no argument from me. Voting is typically a “lesser of the evils” exercise now, it seems.
The XAXA rhyme scheme is deftly handled, and is perfectly suited to the subject matter. The lines could have been rearranged as heptameter rhyming couplets, but that would have been somewhat clunky. I prefer what you have done. “Tactical Molting’ is a truly inspired title.
In the third quatrain, “indiscrete” is a misspelling. It should be “indiscreet.”