Oratorio
(on George W. Bush's address to Congress, Sept. 20, 2001)
"All this befell us in a single day
And night descended on a different world.
Now must we bring our enemies to justice
Or justice to our enemies, these heirs
Of murderous ideologies, whose fate
Shall go the way of all discarded lies.
Let each nation determine its allegiance,
To us or them." Such words, such eloquence
Are worthy of a Churchill, except Churchill
Wrote for himself in stagecraft of a statesman.
Yet blessings on our acting president
Who "will not yield, relent or rest" his cause.
For 'tis the patriotic thing to praise
The miscast actor in his Hamlet part.
It's called "suspending disbelief", and we,
As doting parents at a children's play,
Hoping our little one will zip his fly
Before he goes on stage and know his lines,
Pray little George will make it through the night.
For as the clanging cymbal of which Paul
In apostolic mission warns, Bush speaks
The language of a man that hath not love,
Sings sublime music through a faulty speaker,
Imperfect actor, crude mechanical,
Making a rousing speech he'd never write.
O George, you could not fashion what you read,
So tell us please, who wrote it in your stead?
