[Newspoetry] Carl Sandburg Poim

[William Gillespie]

Thanks to Sam Patterson for sending me this one.

On Account of This is a Free Country

We don’t have to listen to Mister Wafflehorn.
We tune him in and get a scuttle of what he’s got
Or tune him out and give him the gate, the air,
The wide circumambient air
By authority of the federal communications commission.
    We tune him in and let him go with his
"Good evening, everybody," which we know includes
Those of us who happen to be tuned in and leaves out
Everybody of the other millions listening elsewhere
To other commentators, other programs on the dial –
    Or with due respect and by an eighth-inch twist
Of a deliberate thumb, we dial him out, shut him off
    On account of this is a free country.

    What we like best is when Hank winds up:
        "Good-night – and here
        is Kyle Rance
        for the Deep Oil Company."
This gives the idea, like an alibi, like a whitewash,
Like a supersuds rinso dreft duz ivory flakes cleansing,
Like Mister Wafflehorn ain’t been speaking a breath
in behalf and to the behoof of The Deep Oil Company
And what’s commercial we get from Kyle Rance
And nothing commercial indeed indeed from Hank Wafflehorn.

Now the way some of us take it is like this
And a few other listening galoots string along:
    Joe pool of Pennsylvania belongs in the picture,
    Him being the big-shot say-so of Deep Oil and
    What gives in Deep Oil goes back to Joe Pool.
Mister Pool has views, opinions, slants at the news
And Mister Wafflehorn, being a scholar and a gentleman,
Has his independent views, opinions, slants at the news,
    So far, so good,
    And we know Wafflehorn agrees, concurs.