Retail Politics

“Home in New Hampshire”
Painting by William Glackens
From galeriidearte.blogspot.com

(Regarding New Hampshire’s cherished “first in the nation” primary election campaign season)

eye to eye heart to heart

and inevitably one on one

toe to toe nose to nose

not a gladhand or grandstand in sight

free to speak of one’s mind

over pancakes and coffee

it’s here on the stump

in these plain savvy precincts

where scrutiny up close and intimate

gauges the mettle of those who would govern

they come here to listen as much as to talk

in small gatherings void of shrill soundbites

in informal parlors and storefronts

around kitchen tables on streetcorners

voters and candidates trading opinions

examining national issues in light of

the localized personal prisms of citizens

living their time and their place

with their own self-held notions

of how things should be

every pol runs this gauntlet

through biting cold north country weather

and no-nonsense dialogue

endures its discomforts and finds in the end

that it makes them the better

for having been honest informed