Slings and Arrows: Bernie Sanders Plays the Bard
POETRY FORMAT, 18 Jul 2016
Gary Corseri – TRANSCEND Media Service
Sanders: (At the ramparts; in the shadows; a windy night–)
To be or not to be—that is the question!
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or
to take arms against a sea of Hillaries
and, by opposing, end them!
To die, to sleep….
Life’s but a walking shadow—a poor player
that struts and frets his moment upon the stage
and then is heard no more.
It is a tale told by an idiot: full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing!
To die, to sleep; to sleep: perchance to dream!
Aye, there’s the rub, for in that sleep of death
what dreams may come when we have shuffled off
this mortal coil, must give us pause.
If it were done when ‘tis done, ‘tis better it were done quickly!
Seen, but unseen. Noted, but un-noted.
Is this a dagger which I see before me—
the handle towards my hand?
Come, let me clutch thee!
I played my part, and now am ready to depart.
Blow winds and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout!
All my pretty ones? Did you say all?
Noble youths who lent their ears
(not to mention time and money)—
am I to shuffle off to Buffalo, unfriend them?
Have I been out-Trumped?
(He doth bestride the narrow world like a Collosus!)
Out-Foxed by one “extremely careless”?
Oh, what Ailes me now? What Ailes us all?
But, soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East–and Jill Stein is the sun!
Oh, I am fortune’s fool!
The time is out of joint! O cursed spite
that ever I was born to set it right!
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Gary Corseri has published novels and collections of poetry. He has performed his poems at the Carter Presidential Library and his dramas have been produced on Atlanta-PBS and elsewhere. His articles, reviews, interviews, stories and commentaries have appeared at Transcend Media Service, the New York Times, Village Voice, Redbook Magazine and hundreds of periodicals and websites worldwide. He has taught in US prisons and public schools and in US and Japanese universities. Contact: Gary_Corseri@comcast.net.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 18 Jul 2016.
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