Beyond The Stage
an outside perspective on US politics2 total reviews
Comment from patcelaw
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I wish you the very best in the contest and you have a pleasant day. And may you have a good Easter. Patricia
reply by the author on 30-Mar-2024
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I wish you the very best in the contest and you have a pleasant day. And may you have a good Easter. Patricia
Comment Written 28-Mar-2024
reply by the author on 30-Mar-2024
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you too Patricia, many thanks for the review.
Comment from Frank Malley
As is very common, syllable restrictions in poetry are more often damaging than constructive. It may seem trivial, but the first line suffers from its syllable limits by excluding 'The' as its first word. And in the second line, there is a quandary: "POTUS" should be plural, but how is that managed? In latin it might be POTI, which would fit the syllable reqs, but it would be entirely confusing. And POTUSES sounds like sea creatures. So Ms.Ryan makes reasonable choices to conform to the contest's syllabic reqs, but loses a little rhythmic grace in that obedience to form. But yes, indeed, presidents do dance in the preposterous maelstrom of politics, and the world must often weep.
reply by the author on 28-Mar-2024
As is very common, syllable restrictions in poetry are more often damaging than constructive. It may seem trivial, but the first line suffers from its syllable limits by excluding 'The' as its first word. And in the second line, there is a quandary: "POTUS" should be plural, but how is that managed? In latin it might be POTI, which would fit the syllable reqs, but it would be entirely confusing. And POTUSES sounds like sea creatures. So Ms.Ryan makes reasonable choices to conform to the contest's syllabic reqs, but loses a little rhythmic grace in that obedience to form. But yes, indeed, presidents do dance in the preposterous maelstrom of politics, and the world must often weep.
Comment Written 28-Mar-2024
reply by the author on 28-Mar-2024
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Thank you Frank, very much appreciated. It is a quandary alright, I contemplated Chief instead of POTUS, but feared it might sound like it was targeting Biden, and the intention was not to identify one President, rather to consider the broader perspective of the role
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POTUS is no easy job, despite what lots of critics seem to imply. I sometimes think that a one-term limit, perhaps extended to five or six years, would take the urgent need to be reelected out of the picture.