ON A REPORTER'S ASSERTION THAT A RECENT PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE WAS POETRY

by Josette Torres

I am willing
to hear you out.
Cadences of talking
points. Bobbing
and weaving in
rebuttal. Smooth,
long trouser lines.
White space between
answers. Images
of two politicians
in conflict. Every word
a candidate’s mouth
forms infused
with deeper meaning.
 
Literature written
in a hurry streams
from uniform rows
of filing center tables.
Heads bow over
laptops. Journalist
minds sink deep
in composition.
You tell me through
your Blackberry
of blood pooling,
congealing on the stage,
pushing beloved
political metaphors
at me—
I tilt my head
and think, Maybe.

Josette Torres received her MFA in Creative Writing from Virginia Tech in 2010. She also holds a BA in English and Creative Writing from Purdue University. Her work has previously appeared in Big River Poetry Review, 16 Blocks, and Pens on Fire and is forthcoming in Emerge Literary Journal and Eunoia Review. She is the Writer in Residence at the Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, Virginia.