VOTING BOOTH
No longer safely ensconced
behind the curtain
the veil of privacy
No longer pulling levers
where no one can see you
registering your choice
No longer safe
from voting machine hackers
who can manipulate elections
Thank you, Bush and Dieboldt
for giving me a metal chair
and a stinking cardboard screen
The only ‘up’ side of the fetid new system
was watching Carl Paladino vote on TV
loading his card in upside down
© 2010 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
previously published at Poetic Asides
Sharp Little Pencil 
Judy Roney
I had the same feeling when I went in the “new system” voting booth this time. What a great ending to your poem. I hope this is an improvement over the punch system but you couldn’t tell by me on election day. Good that you captured this.
Sharp Little Pencil
Not sure what state you live in (I’m technically in a state of manic depression, but it happens in NYS!), but we had a foolproof, tamperproof system and they just mothballed thousands of solid, lever-operated, paper-trailed machines. I was livid, because we were the last holdout… I guess Dieboldt paid somebody off to switch. The worse part is sitting at cafeteria tables, where anyone can look over your shoulder. Better than that chad system, but still…
Carolee
Oy, NYS. I am so pleased to read this. I avoid writing political poems but they have been demanding their airtime lately. As you know, al Qaeda made it into my recent draft.
Sharp Little Pencil
Yes. Hey, what is the point of poetry without diversity of viewpoints? I see enough poems about Jesus, about butterflies, about love affairs, heartbreak… I’m dedicated to writing about the taboos… my mental disorders (which are handling nicely, and I’m trying to break the stigma), about LGBT and my alliance with them, about war and corporate greed. Ignoring these things is part of what’s wrong with our country.
I leave concentration on beauty and harmony to others, although I have that along with a twisted bit of whimsy in many of my writings. I don’t aspire to be Bukowski or Ginsberg. I just want to be the best Amy I know how to be, and that means stepping up when the cause is right!
Thanks for stopping in, Carolee. I will keep coming to your place, too. Isn’t the Net a wonderful thing? We can commune all around the world… Amy
pamela
Amy,
Love the ending to this. It made me laugh out loud.
Pamela
Sharp Little Pencil
You know, that clip actually made the Jon Stewart show! Made all us Buffalo-area folks feel so… special? Soiled? Tossup. He got most of his votes from this area, natch! Thanks, Pamela.
A