Politics

by Billy Howell-Sinnard
The Writer's Block
Third Place, April 2015
Judged by Lesley Wheeler


I would vote for the moon
and its policy of receiving and giving
without attachment.

The sun for its power and leadership
raising up all the green
talent of the earth.

Stars get my vote
for their untiring optimism
in the darkest of hours.

My cabinet would be the trees
who stand firm in their roots,
holding to the truth

in the stiffest winds,
but reaching ever higher
for more light.


The opening stanza of this timely meditation is stunning. --Lesley Wheeler