A Democratic Lullaby to Bill Clinton

deadline poet

By Calvin Trillin

This article appeared in the March 12, 2001 edition of The Nation.

February 22, 2001

As Bush finds backs to pat and hands to shake,
The Democrats can't seem to buy a break.
The opposition doesn't coalesce,
Because the spotlight's on the Clinton mess,
A mess that's just like catnip to the press.
Afraid that he will never go away,
The Democrats by now just want to say,

Avoid the headlines, can't you, Bill?
Speak softly, please, not louder.
Eschew the networks, can't you, Bill?
Enough, man! Take a powder!

Ignored as long as he is on the stage,
The Democrats, befuddled, try to gauge
How he, amidst the sleaze, seems so unfazed
While they are crazed, and find themselve amazed
At all the oxygen the man inhales,
As he on his sword himself impales.

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About Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin is The Nation's "deadline poet." He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1963 and has written the syndicated weekly column "Uncivil Liberties" since 1986. He has authored many, many books, including Tepper's Not Going Out and Deadline Poet: My Life as a Doggerelist. more...
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