chicanery rules
the day… charlatans and quacks…
carry us away...
Empty promises waft effortlessly through the air
The vacuous bleating of self-important bloviators,
Who claim the best interests of the noble citizenry
Uppermost in their clever, plotting minds who dare
To seek approval from the greater masses at the polls,
While thinly disguising their not-so-quixotic intentions.
Such troublesome breaches in the breastwork
Of liberty, these mischievous self-indulgent trolls
Who feed from the public troughs. Even better,
They claim to do what is right for their constituencies,
And call themselves names like honorable civil servant
Purporting to faithfully execute oaths to the letter
Of the law. I think such is seldom the case, at all, since
They have made for themselves careers of chicanery.
Empty promises -- no more than carefully crafted lies
Cause the skeptical, intelligent folk to wince.
SECOND PLACE WINNER
Written November, 2020
Submitted to "A Meaningful Poem" Contest
Sponsored by Constance La France
Couach potatoes! Scrambling for trivialities
The eyes delight, detrimental to their intellect
Immersed in gape at the melanin free race
Laying eggs of colloquialism to metamorphose into
Formality cherishing fool's errand with hilarious gestures
Blindly swaggering when near a shelf of
Bibliographies,deaf to the wail of books left desolate
Heading for the sitting room to clinch the cosiness
Of the couch which Springs up felicity like an oasis and academics viewed ad draught calling acidity
Recording "etiquette", becoming a lady or a gent,
Being flirty trendy and touched
Like an umpire as points scored
"civilised" if this be be, count count not l among thy subjects
Cast me away from thy chariot ,
Exclude me from your parade
Aloof stand l, outcast l proclaim
Power and shame
Given at birth
Who do we blame?
Loudly we applaud,
Claims of knowledge,
Voiced by a fraud
Who delivers pain
Knowing that false idols
From fools do gain
In the emptiness
Of power and shame.
A cloaked darkness
Knows the hollow of mind.
Be careful of what you seek
For ignorance is the food
Sacrificed by the weak.
Power will deliver
A hefty promise
Sliver by sliver by sliver.
Rise not from birth
In a given coil
Be not light in mirth
What is yours to blame
Be wise in self
In the face of power and shame.
Political Chicanery
By Franklin Price
8/20/1015
Political chicanery
Are spoken words I say
Slightly bending of the truth
Is the politician's way
If uttered words can scrambled be
To turn the meaning 'round
I think I can quite manage
To pound them in the ground
Excuse me while I practice
Take time to coalesce
I haven't done a thing at all
For which I must confess
Contrarily I did it all
Made everything so good
Made no missteps along the way
Did everything I should
No one ever helped me
Bipartisan with my foes
Confronted every problem
From my head down to my toes
Everywhere I fixed it all
Made everything first rate
Now my run for President
Brings my stumping to your state
Give me your nod when voting
I'll guarantee you won't regret
I'll continue fixing everything
Leave it to me and do not fret
I'll always be there for you
You'll never be alone
You know I'll do the best for you
As I rule you from my throne
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.