Gratefulness While Walking

On my morning walks I find
it fitting to number
all that I am grateful for as my dog
finds the perfect plot of land
to defecate.

My eyes are drawn to the trees
and dawn coloring the clouds,
a holy riot of color that
my mind never memorizes
and hardly even sees.

I'm grateful for the grass and flowers,
for brick and stone,
for clay that becomes brick but used to be stone,
that wants to be bone;
for the grain in wood,
for the good in grain,
for the heart in vain searching for the
dawn in the clay, in the bone, in the day.

I'm grateful for the dust I was,
for the ash I'll be.
I love the smell of the earth,
the song of the bee, the song of the wind,
the scream of the mind. The search
for peace. The wonder of time.

Mostly I'm grateful for what is great. For the
glory of being thankful, and the ease of
shedding anger, no matter how late.
Or early, for the grass is greenest
at dawn, and tallest before it's gone.

Jesus for President

Hello, Jesus? Jesus, this is Karl Rove. Look, I don’t really know you and I hope you don’t mind, but I got your number from Rick Warren. You see he called me a couple of days ago very excited and said you were in town and that I should talk to you. I know that you two have talked recently, but I also know that you didn’t discuss what I hope we can discuss today if you’ve got some time. Okay, great, thank you sir.

If you’ll indulge me for a bit I’ve got an idea. Really it’s a proposition. Now I don’t really know you as I said, but George, he used to talk about you quite a bit. So in a sense I feel as if I know you well enough to have this conversation. But even though George used to mention you, for my part Rick’s opinion about you goes a bit further with me, which is why I’ve called. You see Rick had an excellent idea and he called me, and that’s why I’ve called you.

Well Jesus it’s just this: we think you’re the best choice, the right choice, for America in 2016. Now before you say anything in response to that I just ask that you hear me out. We think you’re absolutely the best choice for president and, after talking to Rick and a few other close associates of mine, I don’t see any way you won’t be president. I mean for starters there is the obvious fact that you will absolutely take the evangelical vote. In fact it hardly seems worth mentioning, though I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention it. Name recognition with Evangelicals alone will galvanize their support, and I don’t have to tell you that that is not an easy task every four years.

I also think you will appeal to independents, especially since so many of them are looking for the right balance of social liberalism and fiscal restraint. While I wouldn’t mind a conversation to learn where you stand on economic policy, my gut feeling is that you’re not a spender. And of course there’s your social agenda. Somehow you hit social issues at perfect angles, with exceptions so minor that I think we can almost ignore them. Take this Golden Rule idea - everyone knows it and it’s incredibly popular in principle. And your compassion! If there is one thing I took away from George it’s your compassion, which frankly I think our party desperately needs if we’re going to take back the presidency.

Thirdly I think you can really bring in the minority vote, not least because you are yourself a minority (bear with me). In fact, there is a tremendous opportunity with your name, if you’ll follow me, as it relates to the hispanic vote. Jesus (Hay-soos) is an incredibly popular name in the Mexican-American community, and it is this common touch with latinos that I believe will appeal. And I can’t begin to imagine how well you poll with the poor. Frankly I think we will sweep the minority vote.

Now, I would be remiss if I failed to mention that I have a couple of reservations, but this is strictly based on what I have heard and read about you so I think we can clarify a lot of this. You have said some things that could be construed to imply that you are pacifistic, which the other party - as well as detractors within ours - will pounce on. That said, I think this is a non-issue. We can explain your pacifism as something personal and therefore dismissible. It won’t be hard to convince voters that you will be tough when the situation demands it and American lives are at stake. Aside from that the only other attack I expect is that you would be soft on crime, but I doubt this will hurt your chances of success. As I said in the beginning, the Evangelical vote is yours regardless of how they interpret your convictions. The most significant backlash I expect to receive is on the Right, but once they understand how you can’t lose it won’t be hard to get them in line. Frankly I expect a landslide in the general election given your credentials.

I’m sorry I haven’t given you a chance to talk, but I wanted to lay it all out there first so that you would understand my position and the position of many leaders in the party. We believe in what you can do for this country Jesus, believe it with all our hearts. And I would bet my life that most Americans will believe what you can do for America too, if only you’ll let us introduce you to them. Before you say anything just know this - we will absolutely take care of everything, right down to wardrobe. Even though I have not doubt that you can win - that you will win - we refuse to leave anything to chance. In other words you will be the perfect candidate.