Triada Samaras Poem: The Speech

The Speech

I cannot say
which came first

my poem
or my political impulse

but I was supposed to make you
move your butt
that is all

I was supposed to make you
get up off your seat
and engage yourself
civically speaking

But no
you just sit there

Now my writer's block
is causing me
to doubt my democratic principles
or vice versa

because even if
all the good seats
were going to be taken
by all the fat cats
the men and women
in their greedy suits

And even if my poem
had no art
or my art no matter

The idea was to make you
move
like I can see you move
challenge
change
the way things are

But no
you just sit there

revealing the limitation
in my speech

So the art of democracy
is waning
and my poems
with it

For an art of change
must change
after all
or die

but tell me

did I stir you
when I read this poem?

Did you try to imagine
how many words
does it take
to change a thing?

Or what is the reason
for all the delay?

c. Triada Samaras 2009 (revised 2025)