Presidential rhetoric.

Presidential rhetoric.

There is nothing

In the words

But an excuse

Some offer an apology

Written as an afterthought

On the back of a broken promise

Folded into a pocket square

Placed in full view

Waiting to be tugged

An old joke

With a visual punch-line

When a hoary knee

Is raised

Up and down

Not in protest

Unless the ligament snaps,

In retrospect

A few choice words

Might then be unleashed

On an unsuspecting world

Too much is made

Of persistence

The chatter never stops

When nothing is said

Or understood

As something different

Unless couched

In familiar language

Even a price list

Has its moments

The banal repetition

Of the cost

Without consideration

Of its value

Prosaic is a good word

Packed full

Of threadbare stereotypes

And a run-of-the-mill

Backstory

Where have I heard

That one before?

Pass the peas

Mister President