Poetry: An open letter to my future wife

My Iris flies on the backbone of serenity
freeing poems from themselves while allowing
mortals to cast shadows on the sun

I feel like a god manifesting impossibilities for fun:
presently standing beneath, around, above, and in love—
radiating as if we not a choice

Gods and Poems are the same because they are all you
So before you reincarnate me as soil
know that with you—my Iris—I am immortal

Politics: Dancing to their Music

Everything is patriotic in our capitol—even our speech. I becomes we and we are just American. It’s all quite natural really; first person feels altogether selfish walking past constant reminders that American interests are larger than our own—be it a monument or public officer or an excited tourist.

As a personal note: the juxtaposition of the White House and homeless beggars across the street is cause inspiring. It made me think of the intractable wealth our country has, monetarily and emotionally, and how sad it is that politics complicates good policy.

We run around the capital with idealism in our eyes and causes on our lips. We pass monuments and revel in our freedom to question authority, and we do. The young ones read speeches of our formation and speak of entitlements rather than privileges. We entirely believe in our ability to affect something worth affecting. It is a beautiful feeling.

But somewhere between college and power we make character sacrifices. Newly elected officials might call them small appeasements for a greater good. A deal there for some pork, a few campaign induced votes here, and ten years later those same idealists are politicians.

My taxi driver home from the airport asked me about Washington, DC. We got to talking and she said, “The question you have to ask yourself is, ‘Am I going to dance to their music for a buck?’ If you answer yes in any situation, you are sacrificing your beliefs for a job, or for someone to like you, or for a laugh. We all then, become politicians.” Oh how right she is. Good intentions do not change to political ones only in Washington. We make small sacrifices to our character everyday for reasons you know.

Our capitol does inspire, but it does not create politicians—we do.