Apprenticeship

Before running for office,
to perfect the art of lying,
so crucial to a career in government,
you must first work many years
in a small Manhattan store—
a pizzeria, donut shop or deli—
where every ten minutes you are asked
by a tight-lipped customer,
"Do you have a bathroom?"
To which you must reply,
with sincerity and a straight face,
"No."
Only after years of this kind of deceit
are you equal to the task of politics.
 
 

Copyright 1999,  Bob Slaymaker
 

Bob Slaymaker's poems have appeared in many literary reviews, newspapers and magazines.  These include Callaloo, River Styx, Exquisite Corpse, Gargoyle, The Christian Science Monitor, and Essence.  He has been a featured reader at Barnes & Noble and Borders in New York City, and has taught at the State University of New York, the University of Alabama, LIU, the University of Hawaii, and NYU.  Presently he teaches at the City University of New York.