David X Novak
  • Home
  • About
  • Poetry
  • Plays
  • Prose
  • Books
  • News
  • Contact

The Ballad of the Shape of Things Gone By

7/19/2017

 

The politics of defamation
    My party honed, perfected,
And we know how to sow sensation
    To get a man elected.

Oh, Willie Horton, Willie, Willie,
    With skin as black as pitch,
We rode that scandal like a filly,
    That one-two, bait-and-switch.

Ah, we know how to ply the craft
    (We call it law and order,
And guns for white men—don’t be daft!
    We must protect the border.)

We had our Willie, Willie, Willie!
    And rapists coming in
From Mexico—it may sound silly
    But that is how to win!

A genuine hero, horse-face Kerry,
    We labeled an effete
And out-of-touch elitist—very
    Astute, it was a cheat!

Thank God for Willie, scary Willie
    (Though that was not his name,
But something up with, willy-nilly,
    Our PR people came!)

For fear of Willie got us in
    And once we’re in—haha!
There never is an end to spin
    Or tearing down the law.

My party has a million Willies
    We draw upon, to slander,
And so we take down an Achilles— 
    I tell you this with candor.

So long as you Americans
    Take slander as the norm,
When lies around the truth can dance
     You’ll have the perfect storm.

But it will not be Willie, Willie
    When you are dead and gone— 
From Pakistan to Piccadilly
    As traitors you’ll be known:

As traitors to the best in Man
    Which you defamed so shrilly,
The fault with you, AMERICAN,
    And not so much with Willie.

Comments are closed.
    Picture

    News?

    A new poem is always news to the poet.
    ​Or whatever.

    Archives

    April 2020
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed