Presidential
By John Herlihy

We use words a lot nowadays as our stock in trade;
We dress them in their Sunday best as if on parade.
We stuff them with meaning like water in a balloon;
They pack a punch like a shot of whiskey in a saloon.
But what do they mean when it comes down to it;
Most haven’t a hairless clue of the significance of it.

What do we mean when we use the word “presidential”?
Some deep well meaning referring to something essential?
No doubt the word itself suggests we should tip our hat,
Nod our head in agreement like making up after a spat.
Then murmur sweet nothings, smoking a pipe where we sat;
The word ties up the argument with suitable ribbon for all that.

The primary caucuses are finally done and have had their say;
You would think by all the fanfare they had created God’s day.
For a moment there were loud tremors of a contested convention;
Some people had a vested interest in the chaos and its retention.
The primaries over, the candidate emerged a smiling Donald Duck;
He had been through the ringer and slapped around like an ice puck.

So what exactly is the problem now that the voters have spoken,
And all thoughts of a contested convention have now been broken.
Most candidates wear badges proclaiming they are politically correct;
But this candidate actually utters words that sound politically incorrect.
A crude cut he may be, but much of what he says actually rings true ;
A far cry from the standard fare in Washington with its witches brew.

He is presidential; he isn’t presidential; he is on the burn;
The unlikely candidate baffled by the raucousness where to turn.
The poor voters sit in the garden plucking petals from a flower;
He is, he isn’t, he might be, changing their minds by the hour.
Who could guess such a simple word could cause such havoc,
When used in reference to a candidate who is such a maverick.

So now, let’s get down to it, what does the word presidential mean?
It wears a familiar cloak that looks like it fits and is what it may seem.
Befitting the president, suitable to the office, looking the part comes to mind;
Ponderous, weighty, above the fray in a manner that borders on the sublime.
It cannot mean down to earth, speaking frankly, being no puppet on a string;
That would betray the world’s fantasy of a US president who would be king.