Politics Sucks!

"Is that an economic
growth package in your
pocket or are you
just happy to see me?"
she asked him, while
the political pundits
pondered his performance
in the polls.  For he
never really did inhale
laughter, joy, pain, and
tears, or the pure
spontaneity of living,
always being bound
by conventions and
ambition, always having
to force a smile before
a horde of voyeuristic
reporters.
Have we all forgotten
how to be human,
always hiding behind
the cold fronts of
exaggerated self-importance?
There is a deep freeze
over Washington that
numbs the hearts of
politicians and makes
them deaf and blind to
the real needs of the
people...
And so we laugh
at those silly conventions,
those ridiculous speeches,
those suits and ties, and
those carefully chosen
words that no one ever
uses, we laugh at all
the sleaze and the dirt
in the media--who slept
with whom, who insulted whom--
we laugh at the million
dollar podiums that are
erected with our tax
dollars, we laugh at
the big moneyed lobbies,
the business trips and
power lunches, and the
enormous sums of money
wasted on campaign
contributions or some
ridiculous investigations...
And so we wait for yet another
General on a White Horse
to come and save us all
from our apathy and
ignorance...
And then we sulk when
he doesn't arrive, when
the fog clears once again,
and we're thrown back into
more cynicism and despair...
"Politics sucks!" we
exclaim like some
defiant teenagers, and
no one can argue with
this logic.

                         July 13, 1992
                      --Alexander Shaumyan