Voting

Rising reluctant in morning
I ventured forth.

Swirling among My Fellow Americans
Joining the queue of the enfranchised
I immersed myself in a metropolitan Salad Bowl
of people who were all the same because we were all different.

Lines at the polls move quicker than I do in the morning.
But so do most things. Like snails, and turtles, and magma.

There are those who would ask my inclination,
my party affiliation. And to those I would reply:

My choice was simple.
I voted for an end to the salacious sniping,
an end to the constant coverage.
I voted for new news stories, for my reunion
with friends whose political affiliations differ,
for the future, whatever it may hold.

My flicking of levers in voting booths
(themselves just a smidge smaller than my apartment)
is America in action, makes me a member
of a better city, of a greater populace.

I acted.
I chose.
I flexed my political bicep.
I opted in.
I surmised.
I estimated.
I engaged in the Democratic process.
I renewed my commitment to America.
I raised my voice.

I voted. Did you?

Comments

[Stephen]

How many votes do you suppose Bush got in your precinct? Two, three?

[annabel lee]

Yes, I did, and I've got the sticker to prove it.

[PepGiraffe]

Hey, I didn't get a sticker! Nonethelesss, I feel challenged to say something poetic about the voting process now. Let's see . . . .

Serpentine,
confusing lines
and at the end defeat?

What makes the knots
forming now in my stomach?
Who will defend democracy?

Our Founding Fathers weren't gods.
Their pathos aren't ours and
our values, differ, too.

Not owning land, I vote still.
But the still, small voice that is not god tells me
it does not matter.

I am not in a state of sunshine.
Even if I were, each limb of mine is weary.
Each one is numb with belief that cheaters win and prosper.

The lever is pulled, ker-plunk, like those I heard while riding the snaky line.
What kind of uprising will come if
injustice baldly shows its face?

[Madonna]

I voted, of course. Always do...

Esther voted for Madonna? :P