From the Sublime to the Ridiculous

On Thursday, Feb. 16, I took a break from our board meeting at Wyoming Arts Council HQ and walked through mounds of new snow to hear our poet laureate read to the State Legislature. I walked in the building, greeted Judy at the Capitol Building front desk, and bounded up the stairs. Not bounded exactly, as my ex-jock knees were reacting to the cold. But I did climb to the third floor and passed a few lobbyists on my way into the House Chambers.

A debate was raging about whether to exempt (or not exempt) the equipment of new businesses from taxes. Apparently the fate of the western world rested on the decision, and I sat in the right-side gallery, fascinated by the give-and-take among our elected officials. I admire the arcane culture of politics; its infighting and maneuvering. It was on display Thursday for anyone who felt like wandering in and sitting down.

But I was there for poetry. Wyoming Poet Laureate David Romtvedt had been invited by the Legislature to read his poems, “Oh, If You Could Know,” from “How Many Horses,” a great book now out of print. His new book is “Some Church” from Milkweed Editions. David chose his poem carefully, as there are some poems in the new book that might not go down well in a very conservative Legislature in a very conservative state. So he passed over “Fuck You, Patriotism” and “The Bells of Balangiga,” a poem that takes the state to task for not returning church bells stolen by U.S. troops during the so-called Philippine Insurrection in 1901. The bells are on display at the nuke base outside Cheyenne, war booty you might say. The VFW and American Legion raise hell every time it’s even hinted that the bells should be returned.

But David won’t read that poem today. For one thing, he’s an appointee (unpaid) of Governor Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat who has to walk a fine line through the minefield of WYO politics. David is a mature writer, like me in his fifties, the author of nine books, a world traveler with progressive -- even radical -- views of the world. But he came to the capital city to bring poetry to the legislators in an effort to help them remember -- while they conduct the people’s business in the people’s house -- that poetry and the arts in general are crucial. More on David’s reading later.

On Friday, a different sort of visitor came to the people’s house. Vice-President Dick Cheney flew in from his Jackson redoubt to speak to an invitation-only crowd in the Legislature. An overly friendly crowd, you might say, as the Veep was an intern in this very building 41 years ago. He then served as a state legislator from Casper, where he and his wife Lynne attended high school. He’s set to speak at 11 a.m. to an invitation-only crowd. The people’s house will be restricted to a select few, which is how Cheney and Bush like it. No raucous peaceniks allowed. No Democrats but for the few that sit in each chamber.

On my way into work Friday, I counted seven satellite trucks parked on 24th Street, which passes between the Capitol and my offices at the Wyoming Arts Council. I couldn’t resist strolling into the building through the front entrance, guarded by a highway patrolman in arctic garb (temp was 1 below) and the only entrance not locked on this auspicious day. Inside, I asked Judy if I could go upstairs and she said the H.P. troopers assigned to Capitol Security Forces and the Secret Service were in the midst of a sweep of the building. I looked up from my spot in the rotunda and spied my friend Jim, ex-military and now a H.P., waved down at me. I yelled “Hey Jim” and he smiled. I decided not to engage in a long conversation, as he was on the job and if I yelled, I might startle the Secret Service, and they might nail me as a troublemaker.

What a difference a day makes. Poet arrives and very few pay attention. Veep drops in and the place goes ga-ga. From the sublime to the ridiculous….

David read first in the House chamber. In his intro, he talked about the ranch country east of the Big Horns and into the Powder River Basin. It’s under threat from coal bed methane drilling, and David said he chose the poem because it talks about that country and how much it means to his wife’s Basque family. The poem takes the voice of his wife, Margo. During his prologue in the Senate, David quoted new Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, a single mother of three children who once was tortured by the secret police of General Augusto Pinochet. President Bachelet dared to mention “love” as part of her agenda. Great to hear a quote from a Leftist in a very non-Leftist chamber.

David brought to life the poem’s persona. Margo and her cousin Brad rode horses to Powder River. “We’d pick up fallen branches and pretend/ to be knights in armor, aim our cottonwood lances/at each other’s hearts, galloping/as fast as we could, at the last minute/veering away so we never hit each other./We’d just run and run and run.” When David finished, he departed without fanfare as the Senate got on with its work as “legislators of the physical world,” as David referred to them last year. There was no time to waste as hundreds of bills vied for attention during this short 20-day session. Besides, the Veep will disrupt proceedings on Friday, usurping the time devoted to the people’s business in this people’s house that is not as populist as we Wyomingites like to think.

Poetry was replaced by vacuity when Cheney spoke. When he speaks, I hear “The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart and his imitation of Cheney, which is a squawking voice reminiscent of The Penguin on TV’s “Batman.” The Veep's Feb. 17 speech was all sweetness and light, with little of his usual squawk about the War on Terror. His words were greeted with loud huzzahs from the partisan chambers.

Made me sick to hear my legislators cheer a war criminal and war profiteer. Maybe he too will end up like his fellow traveler, Pinochet, finally brought to task for his crimes against humanity. Chile's president is right, maybe I should love those that inflict pain. But today, my heart is as cold as the weather, and awaits a thaw.

--Michael Shay, 2/18/06