Monday, November 12, 2012

the game, fair to all?


politics and sports

politics is like sports
in that we can be drawn to the contest
and fascinate ourselves with who wins and who loses,
and how much it’s the vicarious “us”
doing the winning & losing,

yet politics are not like sports
for the conditions of my life
only change with sports in that
I might have, or not have, a dessert, if my team wins,
or go hungry for a time if my team loses,

in politics the stakes are higher,
the body can live or die
with what we do about war or health care,
in politics the spirit can be empowered, or broken,
as rights and privileges are given, or denied,

I imagine life as a game
with the politicians making the rules,
and each of us is a player,

whether the game is fair to all
is at the heart of politics,
and it deeply matters
 how we structure the game with laws and taxes,
with how much we care for the least to us
as well as we care for ourselves.

by Henry H. Walker
November 8, ’12

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