Just Because You Like It, Doesn’t Mean You Vote For It

I’ve liked lots of things

Over the years

That I didn’t feel comfortable

Voting for

I’m a representative

See, that’s what everybody--

That’s what everybody

Forgets

I’m here to represent

Not just people

But a principle

An idea

The idea that my own personal--

And if you talk to some people

They tell you

That they think

My job

Should be to use discretion

Which is

Which is partly true

But ultimately

If where I land

Is far from

Where the people

Who sent me here

Would like me to be

I have to bridge that gap somehow

I can’t just go running off

And say--

Well, you folks don’t know

What the best thing is

Because that would be me

Playing

Playing god

Essentially

For the most part

Because how do I know

What’s good or bad?

How does anybody?

That’s why we vote

That’s why people vote

To send somebody like me

To where I need to go

To make their voices heard

And before I go

They make it very clear to me

What they like

And what they don’t like

And what their brand

Of morality is

They tell me

What’s right and wrong

The majority of them anyway

They make that decision

And if history proves them wrong

Then I take the heat for that

But we also agree

Hopefully

That times have their own

Ways of thinking about things

Different folks

Different times

Different votes

You want to hold something

Against your great-great grandfather

You go right on ahead

I’m sure he doesn’t give a fuck

But if it makes you feel better

Then you do what you like

But if you really want a say

You’ve got one

You’ve got your vote

That you can cast

However you want to

And if things don’t shake out

The way you want

Because you didn’t go along

With the majority

Well then

You can take comfort

In knowing

That maybe you were on

The right side of the future

That maybe one day

People will speak your name

With the high praise

Reserved for liberators

And rebels

Somewhere

Forward in time

You’ll be a real hero

As far as how much comfort

That should bring you, well--

Probably not much

But nobody said

The fruits of democracy

Were plentiful

Just that everybody

Would get a taste