Politics and Society in Comic Verse - Senryu Of December 15, 2012

Due to a proliferation of appointments, I did not pass on these two satirical poems from the Saturday edition of my hometown paper. They may be a bit stale, the election being over and all. However, they deserve recognition:

甘言と
詭弁飛び交う
師走かな

Kanben to
Kiben tobikau
Shiwasu ka na

Sweet talk and
Sophistry fill the air
Ah, the Twelfth Month!

December, with Christmas and its end-of-the-year parties, is a time when people say nice things, if insincerely sometimes. Why should we have expected anything else this December?

Contrast the above sardonic ennui with the below steely belief in carrying out one's duty in representative democracy.

死に票に
なりそうですが
きめました

Shi ni hyo ni
Nariso desu ga
Kimemashita

Even though it
Seems my vote will go to waste
I have made my decision

Elections really are the worst way to establish a government, except for all the others.