Dead Poets And Politicians

This was written before the last election. 

 What would the dead poets have said about South Africa? Let's tweak Wordsworth: 

 Nine years have passed 

Nine summers with the length of nine long winters 

And again we see these waters rolling from corrupted springs.... 

 As we approach our Rubicon, die in hand, it might help to remember the words of e e cummings: 'A politician is an a...e.' Not always true. Sometimes insulting to a...s. Still, it's true often enough to warn us to cast the die with great care. 

Soberly. 

 Louis MacNeice might have been cautioning us (slightly cannibaiized):

 Our freedom as free lances

lanced Advances towards its end;

 This earth compels, 

upon it cliches and curses descend; 

And soon, my friend, 

We shall have no time for dances.

 And he may well have our measure as a country, in these lines: 

 We are dying, Egypt, dying 

And not expecting pardon 

Hardened in heart anew... 

 Please vote carefully. We may say in time: 'Now is the winter of our discontent made summer....' Or: Four years have passed Four summers with the length Of four harsh winters....