best at F11
Sonnets
Poet Lariat
POLITICS, THE LOST ART OF
To take offence is current rhetoric
easily learned; quick to surface, slick as seals.
Feigns nobility; but a dunce’s shtick.
So solemn, stern! (It stands where wisdom kneels).
Indignity; a blazing fire of twigs
first hot and bright, then slumps, then ash, then smoke.
Its argument not worth a peck of figs
More heat than light, a child would see the joke!
For zest, from newly bottled rage, it swigs.
In contrast. wisdom watches circumspect,
Sees broad and deep; enjoys without offence;
a path forgot the peaceful mind detects
a just and easy way from here to thence.
The heart and mind with God can be imbued
and wisdom point the path around the feud.
Poems from the Eighth Decade
Copyright © Harold Macdonald 2004
used with permission