Gerrymander This
the ancient nautical maps
have long ago predicted that
if god grabbed and pulled
maine's shoreline end to end
its ocean border would be longer
than california's liberal pacific curve
with all the swollen perturbations
sharp inlets and cutting sounds
with those rocky coves
glacial embayments
and curving warping big tide bays
with the ancient granite formations
that toss giant blocks of stone
into the icy atlantic
as if there was
forever
but even that repurpose
and reshaping of geography
would not justify
the disenfranchisement
of a free people or a
curtailment to the right
to vote or justify
one side coasting
to the outcome
of each election
deities who stretch
the truth to distortion
don't align with
political persuasions
or the best interests
of we the people
and when has
it ever been
that a straight path
makes for a better
journey of discovery
how do we understand
what we are capable
of achieving without
the pondering
examining and
the lost exploring
better yet to stumble
every so often upon
a wave-tossed piece
of barnacle-covered wood
that we shape into our mantle
let's sit at the seaside bar
adjacent to the peer
where immigrant waitresses
serve fish 'n chips
lobster rolls
cold beers and
collect their tips
let’s argue and toss
about a few grand
and even more idiotic
ideas and notions
release the chains
of our bias with the heat
and laughter of conversation
then raise a glass again and
stare out with a slight buzz
at the boats and buoys
and imagine once more
those great ships
and the captains
and crews who sailed
unknowing
over the invisible
horizon