Kenneth Rexroth Poetry and Some Thoughts on the Midterms

Herring

The herring is prolific.
There are plenty of herrings.
Some herrings are eaten raw.
Many are dried and pickled.
Most are used for manure.
See if you can apply this
To your history lessons.

Horse

It is fun to ride the horse.
If you give him some sugar
He will love you. But even
The best horses kick sometimes.
A rag blowing in the wind
Can cause him to kill you. These
Characteristics he shares
With the body politic.

I'm semi-hypnotized by how apparently the Repubs are going to crush the Dems in the upcoming election, after they themselves were crushed just four years ago. What brings these crazy pendulum swings? Partially the economy and the war, for sure, though conservatives will vote Republican and liberals will vote Democratic pretty much regardless of economy or war. So the Independent voters brings us these swings, which suggests that they are either badly misinformed (i.e. voting for Obama and thinking he would be a moderate when, as I fully expected, he governed as the liberal) or want divided government (voting for Dems in '06 as a check on Bush, and Repubs in '10 as a check on Obama).