i was handsome and smart
or so the nuns all told me,
eyes of blue with
a winsome smile,
a thinker, a tinkerer
a fine midwestern demeanor
but if all that were true,
what’s up with these
Paul Ryan Bye-Bye Blues?
that ryan boy will go far,
the farm folk all claimed
d.c.’s a brutal place
he’ll know how to tame
a bright light
in a dark time
is what they said,
solid and sober and
steady of hand
the world my oyster
as i bestrode this land.
so much promise and
potential to share,
a prophet of profit
with a kindly stare
but if all that were true,
why am i singing these
Paul Ryan Bye-Bye Blues?
it all turned to crap,
they’re all now saying,
from the left and the right,
nothing but braying
i’m smarmy i’m stuffy
an unprincipled hussy.
as if i’m some snake,
just can’t catch a break,
oh, i got me a bad case of
the Paul Ryan Bye-Bye Blues
how did this happen
to good-hearted paul ryan
who answered the call,
and now suffered this fall?
was it me, was it you,
or just the washington zoo?
there’s no answer, i fear,
as i trudge back to wisconsin,
unless it’s blowin’ in the wind of
the Paul Ryan Bye-Bye Blues
the Paul Ryan Bye-Bye Blues
***
In the end, Paul Ryan deserved this sendup and a whole lot more…
Check out this blog’s public page on Facebook for 1-minute snippets of wisdom and other musings from the world’s great thinkers and artists, accompanied by lovely photography.
http://www.facebook.com/TraversingBlog
Deep appreciation to the photographers! Unless otherwise stated, some rights reserved under Creative Commons licensing.
Elizabeth Haslam, whose photos (except for the books) grace the rotating banner at top of page.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lizhaslam/
Library books photo by Larry Rose, all rights reserved, contact: larry@rosefoto.com
DON’T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT, Paul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, yeah. Lovely ballad of Paul Ryan, who will live in infamy for being a spineless, disingenuous, creepy, hypocritic man: not to mention a lousy House Speaker. Adios, Paul. (and I am totally with Mary)
Mary & Jay, don’t know if you’ve seen the other Paul’s (Krugman) Tweetstorm this morning on Ryan, but it is worth a sustained look. As an actual academic economist, Krugman has long been one of the few prominent journalists, even among liberals, who dared to challenge Ryan’s reputation as a policy wonk and deep economic thinker. “Ain’t true, he’s a fraud!’ Krugman has been almost shouting all along. Finally, the mask seems to be peeling off…
https://twitter.com/paulkrugman?lang=en
Where did you find the P-P-P Paul Ryan video – had me laughing out loud… Loved the Paul Ryan Bye Bye Blues – except the final stanza I must beg to differ, yes Washington is a zoo and clearly we all share in the blame at some level but others from the right and left and taken principled stands, even when they knew it would cause them grief… that old integrity/courage access was one Paul Ryan could never really muster… and of course he ain’t alone on that score! Now maybe if one takes a more figurative view of the lyrics, this is indeed “blowing in the wind of the Paul Ryan Bye Bye Blues”… regardless, fine tune indeed – Grab a guitar (or a friendly guitar player) – I expect the Traversing Team to post the MP3 of this gem soon!
Nice poetic send off for our man from Wisconsin, which brings to mind further stanzas with possible rhymes…sin, has been, foreskin, trash bin, bathtub gin, conjoined twin, cotton gin, and Anne Boleyn. Let’s see what we can do with Speaker of the House…louse. mouse, souse, espouse, rouse, slaughterhouse, outhouse, whorehouse, and Johann Strauss. Love words!
Kevin, no argument from here that Ryan doesn’t get a pass on his total failure to stand up to Trumpmania, but remember these blues are sung from his viewpoint, not mine, so I am innocent of any excuse mongering on his behalf! Just wanted to keep my slate clean…
Robert, you sound ready to put those words, and any more that you’ve thought of since, onto slips of paper and then into a bag, which you can dump across your living room carpet and then put a poem together in the order you pick the words up. Prepositions & pronouns allowed, and I look forward to your efforts! :-)
there was a young Rep from Wisconsin,
who committed the greatest of sins,
when Speaker of the House,
Trumpian politics he espoused,
thank God he’s now just a has been.
Just a simple non x-rated limerick Maybe later I’ll attempt a more in depth poem about hypocrisy ala McConnell & Ryan.