Things That Don't Matter

Today we said good bye to George Bush. I’m not at all sad to see him go. In my English class we’re doing a unit on poetry, so I thought I’d try my hand at it.

The Bush Years

I was walking down the street one day
in one of my better moods
The sun was bright, the sky was clear
Everything seemed all right

But then I stopped in my tracks
for there was the most peculiar spectacle
an elephant
perched precariously on a telephone pole

I inquired of him
“How did you get up there?”
to which he replied
“I do not know”

I questioned him
“What are you doing”
And he said
“Looking for terrorists”

“Up there?”
I asked, unbelieving
“Where else?”
he replied, as if I were unworthy of his time

“I don’t see any”
I put in
“Neither do I”
said he, with a sigh

He stuck his ear
to the wires
“Whatever are you doing now?”
I asked, almost not wanting to know

“I’m listening”
he said.
“To what?”
I asked

“Phone calls, what else could I be listening to?”
he replied haughtily
I stared dumbfounded
“No seriously, is there something else I could be listening to?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s illegal”
I said, more concerned than ever
“Nonsense”
he said
“It’s as American as apple pie”

I decided not to pursue the matter
it didn’t seem worth my time
Exasperated I looked to the sky
Where a vulture circled

The elephant noticed the vulture too
“That bird’s a Dick”
he said
“I know he’s just waiting for me to die”

“How are you going to get down?”
I asked
and he looked at me bewildered
“I don’t really know”

“Well shouldn’t you have thoug…”
“No more questions!”
he exclaimed
and fell off the pole.