Bright, Feminine and Fearless!

By Stanley Collymore

 

It’s customary for most politicians when asked why they

entered politics to say they did so to make a difference.

What that difference is, is often at best either quite

vague or never overtly expressed and always

remains an amorphous concept which is

never fully defined or understood.

 

Nevertheless, most voters by electing them to the public

offices they hold still idealistically trust those whom

they freely chose to be their standard-bearers

and therefore generally assume will not

only be honest with them but also

committedly have their hearts lodged

in the right place and do what’s right where the

interests principally of their constituents but

likewise together with the wider ones of

their country at large will similarly be

paramount, so that the expectations

placed in these MPs and the

aspirations that have been

engendered from doing

so can reliably be

counted on.

 

Alas, though, this almost blind faith unwarrantedly

entrusted in the assumed probity and even the

competence of their elected representatives

is seldom rewarded, with the instances

of those selflessly fulfilling these

expectations being the rare

exception rather than

the general rule.

 

But you Clare, in marked and exemplificative contrast,

are a priceless gem glowingly ensconced among

the gaudy and even counterfeit bric-a-brac

of human detritus, and especially of the

political kind, that risibly but even so

is concertedly and routinely passed

off as what it evidently is not; all

to no avail, I must thankfully

add, with prescient-minded

folk who can easily detect,

graciously respect and inspirationally

appreciate the genuine article when

they come across it. And there’s

none to be sure more authentic

or compellingly enlivening

in that latter regard than

your inimitable self

Clare Daly!

 

© Stanley V. Collymore

30 June 2013.

 

Footnote:

 

This poem is an appreciative tribute to with my deepest admiration and enduring respect for Clare Daly: an extraordinary outstanding and redoubtable Lady in every veritable comprehension of that word; Independent member of the Irish Parliament, empathetic human being, fearless campaigner for the practical application of as opposed to the customary theoretical lip-service to human rights or the principles of democracy of her political peers; and who crucially isn’t afraid to speak truth to power or call a spade a spade! Thank you Clare.