Jimmy

A humble man, a noble man
Whose election fell in the four-year caesura
Dividing the flagrant corruption and
The ponderous Hollywood vanity of
Two bordering electorial spans.
Political hardhats made fun of him--
A peanut farmer, a hick, a rube;
A religiously minded yet practical gent
Whose naivety sometimes tripped him up.
Amendment twenty-six was passed
In time to allow me to cast a vote
Before I could lay down currency
For a bottle of wine. I marked my first ballot
For Mr. Carter, and despaired when (given a second chance)
He was trounced by a hollow glamor god.
Circumstances undid his tenure;
Forces with ill-timed consequences
Often dismantle the better prospect
While artificially gilding a rival
With predecessive rays of glory.
In the sunset of his dynamic career
(Centenarian daylight from dawn till last gleaming),
Jimmy glowed ever brighter, surer, pure,
An unflagging model of selflessness
Pouring his luminous essence out
To repair the morale of dispirited souls.