The repeated lines resonate differently each time they appear, which is exactly the effect I imagine for a villanelle, yet the language sounds natural to my mind's ear. And I see an archetypal image there, behind the contemporary images of assassination: It seems that nothing so threatens human beings as the kind of love that offers hope and elevates compassion. I don't know why that is -- atavistic evolutionary holdovers, bad chemicals, toxic ideologies? Or does the prospect of transcending our history always terrify us?
On the mundane political level, I do think that if we manage to get sane long enough to elect someone President whose candidacy is already larger-than-life historic who also happens to be a thoughtful and compassionate person, our next great test will be keeping him well enough protected to become an elder statesman. I hope we pass the audition.
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The repeated lines resonate differently each time they appear, which is exactly the effect I imagine for a villanelle, yet the language sounds natural to my mind's ear. And I see an archetypal image there, behind the contemporary images of assassination: It seems that nothing so threatens human beings as the kind of love that offers hope and elevates compassion. I don't know why that is -- atavistic evolutionary holdovers, bad chemicals, toxic ideologies? Or does the prospect of transcending our history always terrify us?
On the mundane political level, I do think that if we manage to get sane long enough to elect someone President whose candidacy is already larger-than-life historic who also happens to be a thoughtful and compassionate person, our next great test will be keeping him well enough protected to become an elder statesman. I hope we pass the audition.