13 Ways of Looking at Sarah Palin (with apologies to Wallace Stevens)

I
Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird
Until Sarah shot it.

II
I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there is Sarah.

III
Sarah whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of the pantomime
but it paid well.

IV
A wingnut and Fox News
Are one.
A wingnut and Fox News and Sarah
are one.

V
I do not know which I hate more,
The annoyance of inflections
Or the annoyance of innuendoes,
Sarah talking
Or just after.

VI
Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow of Sarah
Crossed it, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the Tea Party, the indecipherable cause.

VII
O thin men of Wasilla,
Why do you imagine golden birds?
Why not buy golden coins
With Sarah on the obverse?

VIII
I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
but good god, Sarah’s voice
makes me want to drive nails in my ears.

IX
When Sarah flew out of sight,
She was headed to Seattle, there to transfer planes
to Anchorage, and drive a couple more hours to Wasilla and bear Trig, at least according to her autobiography.

X
At the sight of Sarah
Sitting in the green room,
Even the bawds of Commentary
Would cry out sharply
"Starbursts".

XI
Gore rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
He is fat.
Also, Sarah.

XII
The river is moving.
The blackbird must be flying.
Sarah must be lying.

XIII
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
Sarah sat
In the wings, waiting.