Kill the President

Part 7

Two forty-five and the garden's alive
with the hum and the buzz of the press:
CNN, NBC, Business Week and AP,
Asia Times, ABC, Melbourne Age, MTV,
Reuters Deutschland, Tulsa World, CBS.

Yes, the whole box and dice of the whole Fox, and nice
to see independent media represented:
there's a journal Murdoch's tried to buy out for Fox,
but this boy on the box has hung onto his stocks.
Every takeover bid 'Kids' has prevented.

'Kids' is a monthly, the Brinkley and Huntley,
the Woodward and Bernstein, Fallaci,
the Peter Arnett of the under-12 set,
and there never was yet journalistic cadet
like Tim, tip-toes 'neath the press glitterati.

In back of the podium Irving's in odium,
being held in opprobrium by the speechwriting crew.
"Four minutes to three, where the hell can he be?"
says Dan "How can we write a speech when all he
does is glance for a minute or two?

"And we had to toil on a speech about soil!
What more can he do to unnerve us?"
The other speech guys all agree with Dan Wright,
"There he is!" says Chuck Fleiss, "Jeezus, so many spies."
(Their affectionate name for "the Service".)

"My God, look at that!" chuckles Chuck, "Check the hat!
The Chief is a damn Cherokee."
"No, Chuck," chuckles Dan, "I'm sure it's Cheyenne."
Then a Secret Service man, who's been listening, says "Man,
you crew is crazy. That head dress is Cree."

"Who cares if it's Pawnee, Kickapoo or damn Shawnee."
Dan's fuming: "If he thinks that he's Tonto ––"
With earphone in ear Agent Graham appears,
and looking severe: "Wright! Fleiss! Over here!
The Chief wants the soil speech – and pronto!"

"Hey, don't get uptight," says speechwriter Wright,
"He's mounting the podium, man.
Too late for it now, so don't have a cow ...
look, he's taking a bow. He's starting to speak now.
Let's go hear the Great Man," says Dan.

To be continued

Kill the President

Part 6

"OK," says the Chief "so, boys, what's the brief?"
The speechwriters shuffle and squirm.
"So where are they, guys, your elegant lies?
Words that mesmerize, words that help to disguise
what we've done in our term. What was that about 'worm'?"

Speechwriter Dan Wright looks a little uptight:
"'Cold hopes swarm like worms within our living clay.'
Shelley's words, Mr Pres." "Well Dan," Irving says
"Dan, that's why I am the Pres, and why Shelly ... why she's
still on the switchboard on 80 a day.

"But ... it ain't bad, ain't bad ... hmmm, ain't too bad at all.
I like what it says about clay!
Dan, get me stuff about soil." "Sir? Stuff about soil?
And not about oil?" "No Dan, soil, not oil.
From now on it's soil – and decay.

"Alright, you speech guys, from today, no more lies.
Listen up and get wise, things have changed.
At 3 o'clock today, I got somethin' to say,
on soil. And decay. So waddya say?
Guys, waddya think?" They think "So it's true. He's deranged."

Laughs Irving, "Hey hey! Gotta get on my way!
Let's meet before 3 in the Garden."
He skips on his way and Wright notices Graham,
Agent John Graham, in a whisper he's saying
in his lapel "Tail the Chief? Beg your pardon?"

To be continued