Politics sucks
Politics sucks
From the dull beat of a daily drum
to the tumultuous shores of yore
there is nothing which drains the soul
and unearths the most morbid of intentions
more so than that which we call politics.
In the pursuit of greatness, men do as
they must, whether tis nobler
in their mind to suffer the slings
and arrows of a life without power
or, instead, raise a fiery
torch to thine enemies and friends,
asking only "from whom does the bell toll?"
There is nothing honest about
a man who proclaims himself king,
whether to determine the fate of
polities or policies,
and his swan song we shall sing;
but of what do we say as to intent
hidden behind the words, sonnets,
and plastic swords?
There is simply nothing honest
about politics. Friendships,
family ties, and business interests
be damned; for this is politics.
Selfish, egotistical, power hungry
and futile; the pursuit of temporal
power is nothing in light of our
shared destiny.
On this day let us reflect
and say to those who choose
to anoint themselves holy,
well mannered, and free of sin;
politics sucks and you'll never win.
Posted Oct 5, 2016, 3:30 PM UTC
Okay, let me start by saying that there are some strong lines in the poem. Lines like
and
show insight into both a bit of the political landscape in general and how to use words eloquently.
That said, this is really heavy handed. A lot of this poem is trying to find a clever way to call politicians crooks or worse. You're first line pretty much tells what the entire poem is going to be about, and with six stanzas of this, there's not a lot to take away from it.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that you're using poetry to address whatever issues you have with the political climate, but you're letting anger pull you down the road of poetic tropes in hope of making a point.
If you look at poets who wrote politically, rarely will you find an example of them attacking the system wholly in a handful of lines. They analyze, interact, witness, and pull from the environment a tiny window into the strife or anger they're dealing with and go to work making sure we're able to see that.
Anyone who pays attention to the news can see that there's a broken system in play, but it's our job as writers to have an example ready to show how this effects a single woman, a child, or even a place. Saying politics suck isn't telling us anything we don't know. Why does it suck?
Thank you kindly for such detailed feedback, I'm a philosopher by trade and only just starting out with poetry.
It's certainly a different ballgame than the analytical syntax I'm used to :)