I wrote this poem back in Bill Clinton’s second administration, and it seems relevant now. It’s in my collection PARADISE, David Robert Books.
Go Down for the President
Go down, go down, all you little men,
Know how the women ignore you;
The President has come to town,
His sacrament is upon their tongues.
Go down, go down, all you husbands,
Cuckolds and fools of the women;
The President has come to town,
He will take care of the poor children.
Go down, go down, all you old men,
Who lost the wars they laugh at now;
The President has come to town,
He is the boy who is immortal.
Go down, go down, all you narrow men,
Who kept the promises the others broke;
All the girls just love a sailor
Who has a girl in every town.
Go down, go down, all you working men,
Who make the houses and the chairs;
The President has come to town
And they burn the chairs upon the floor.
Go down, go down, explorers, adventurers.
While you were gone the big boy came
And smiled and made himself at home,
And the women couldn’t help themselves;
Go down, go down, go down.
For when the women suckle at his breast,
The President’s who’d give away his tie,
Should not the men go down, go down?
