Public Office

Apprentice to politics
mounting the world stage
at the precipice of power
and strategic influence
that stage when superb
oration garnered applause
even as action and results
           collapsed      the
prestige remains with
the retired office holder
whose name is legend.
What now, in the works?
There's gold in them there
hills of speech making
and opportunities to burnish
credentials intact in the minds
of believers. Oh cynic
versed in elocution and
circumlocution      now
telling tales out of class 
through proxy revelations
as listeners imagine themselves
wielding power-by-remote
theirs       for the price of
entry to hear those tall tales
from the tall, dark familiar.
Finally, legitimacy achieved
       as power speaks truth 
to the privileged unwashed.