Oh that I should ever see a poem as lovely as a tree

Reading the variety of lyric poems this week was enlightening. The styles and even the level of seriousness with which the poets seemed to view themselves was interesting.  I never really gave much thought to how important poetry can be. To think that it was part of the tests one had to take to be a member of the government in China is mind boggling. I don't know that we would ever see "write a poem about the President" on an entrance exam to be the Attorney General or FBI agent.  This just illustrates how much times have changed and how different our cultures are. 

I think it would be interesting though, if civil servants did create poetry relating to their field of work. Members of the DEQ could write about water quality and the loss of species. Civil engineers could write about roads and traffic. Senators could write about their beliefs.

Perhaps it would be a good idea if politicians were to write poems instead of debate. It would certainly be less headache inducing as they couldn't simply insult their opponent.... Or perhaps they could. I think the hardest part would be making sure they didn't hire a "poem writer" and had to write their own poetry.

On second thought, I'm not sure this exercise would tell us anything about the candidates other than how imaginative they are.