Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Ode to Sacramento

The Capitol of Californ' is called the River City,
A fair land that is green with rice and also blue with pity,
Black with lies and obfuscations,
Brown with fact and indignation
White of liver, gray of thought,
Tanned by buyers and the bought.

The confluence of two great streams,
A shining, fertile city deems.
Yet the measure of her elevation
Is the effluvium of  legislation.

COMMENTARIAT, n.  A flock of wool-gatherers.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ya got trouble, my friend, right here,
I say, trouble right here in River City.

Anonymous said...

Too easy:

COMMENTARIAT n. bloggers

The Old Mule said...

man, that poem was perfect. Anyone who works "effluvium" into an ode deserves a ham sandwich.

commentariat: Marxian calligraphists.

TLP said...

Well, all I can say is, that when I was young, there weren't so many words in the world. I'm talkin' back in the olden days.

COMMENTARIAT: what will they think up next?

TLP said...

Forgot to say that I like the poem. But I do. Like the poem.

Anonymous said...

And as the weight of commentary presses
The murky metropolis into its mud,
The Bay advances, the river regresses,
And the city's arks float on the flood.

Anonymous said...

leaves me pondering which came first,the egg or chicken..

G said...

Baaa! Colorful prose.

Jamie Dawn said...

Sacramento:

During heavy rains,
It floods o'er the plains,
Arnold may have brawn,
But his is not a faun.

Mr. Tumnus for Governor!!


I realize that poem had rhyme, but no reason.
That's just how my brain works.

Have a gooood day.
:-)

tsduff said...

Fine old city
Set in fields
Marsh and water
Ricey yields

Birds fly o'er
Vast undulations
Train meanders
The plantations

Politics
Are far from mind
Also gone -
The daily grind

All perspectives
Vary hue
Depending on
One's point of view

COMMENTARIAT – Talking head

Mistress Anna said...

I dated a wool-gatherer once. Not a fan

Jim said...

'Sacramento' has me remembering my ex, she had relatives there.
..

Doug The Una said...

Weirsdo, does that musical take place in Sacramento or Cincinnatti or some other River City?

Quilly, not to easy for you to score on.

Thanks, Mule. I like ham sandwiches.

TLP, it's true, then again nowadays "perfidy" isn't a word.

Wow, Amoeba. Wanna go halvsies?

The bear.

G, moo.

JD, I admire rhyme without reason. Rhyme's always in season and reason too often leads one to treason.

Terry, that is very true. Capitol, farm town, railroad depot, Sacramento has many historical claims most of which involve exploited immigrants.

Anna, I bet he's still wondering what went wrong.

Oops. Sorry, Jim. If it helps, they are probably vice-addled reprobates.

Anonymous said...

I think it's Iowa, right?

Doug The Una said...

How did I not think of Davenport? Shame on me. I've been to rodeos and monster truck rallies there! Dubuque? Ft. Washington? Muscatine?

Anonymous said...

Search me. I think it's a fictional city called "River City." But it's been a long time since I played the show.