Found Poetry on the Campaign Trail

Hart Seely has been at it again, picking out the pieces of found poetry from the public statements of politicians. Five years ago it was then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s press conference utterances Seely cast into poetic shapes. By the time he was finished he had a whole bookful of Rummy poems. Now he’s compiled a series of short poems formed from Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s recent interviews:

from Slate (listed under the category of “Low Concept: Dubious and Far-fetched Ideas”):
“The Poetry of Sarah Palin, Recent Works by the Republican Vice Presidential Candidate” Here’s a sample:

You Can’t Blink

You can’t blink.
You have to be wired
In a way of being
So committed to the mission,

The mission that we’re on,
Reform of this country,
And victory in the war,
You can’t blink.

So I didn’t blink.

(To C. Gibson, ABC News, Sept. 11, 2008)

Our previous posts about poetry in the current campaign:
The Intersection of Politics and Autobiography in Poetry, Obama’s poetry (March 2007)
Harold Bloom comments on Barack Obama’s poems (June 2007)
Poetry vs. Prose in the Presidential Campaign? (February 2008) — This one has a poll asking “Would you vote for a poet for President?” Stop in and vote!
Barack Obama’s Poem Now a Video (July 2008)