4054

Poetry Thursday--a betrayal of trust

Last week I took a writing class at the Rhein Center here in Lakeside with Patricia Mote. One of our assignments was to write an editorial, poem or song lyrics about a fallen person in public life--a president, sports figure or celebrity. I chose Bob Taft (Robert A. Taft, II), our former two-term governor of Ohio, who by the end of his term was ranked 50th of the 50 governors.

He bears one of the most famous names in American politics--Taft. His Taft fore bearers have included a president, senators, supreme court judges, secretaries of war, as well as state politicians. He left office entangled in an ethics scandal (quite mild by standards of other politicians), and he and his wife went to Africa where he had served in the Peace Corps as a young man. He will be at the University of Dayton this fall.

Poor Bob Taft
by Norma Bruce

Gone are the days when our Taft name was strong and great.
Gone are my state house friends who also met my fate.
Gone from Columbus to far off Tanzania,
Peace Corps memories and far off Tanzania.

I'm going, I'm going, this life is still a draft--
I read the Zogby ethics polling, poor Bob Taft.

Why do I weep so, it can now not be improved,
George Bush is my eleventh cousin once removed,
And I'm the ninth cousin of Richard Bruce Cheney;
Yes, in my family, Vice President Cheney.

I'm going, going, before I get too daft--
I hear the ethics charges tolling poor Bob Taft.