Erdos Had The Number First

There is a dangerous poem out there folks. It had to be removed from textbooks in Pakistan because it (as the Guardian reports) is a Veiled ode to George Bush .

The text of it is kinda funny, and notice that the first letter of each sentence spells “President Bush”.

Here is the text of the poem, written by an anonymous poet and entitled The Leader

Patient and steady with all he must bear,
Ready to accept every challenge with care,
Easy in manner, yet solid as steel,
Strong in his faith, refreshingly real,
Isn’t afraid to propose what is bold,
Doesn’t conform to the usual mold,
Eyes that have foresight, for hindsight wont do
Never back down when he sees what is true
Tells it all straight, and means it all too
Bracing for war, but praying for peace
Using his power so evil will cease:
So much a leader and worthy of trust,
Here stands a man who will do what he must

Besides being a really crappy poem, it is a very interesting thing for political reasons. Especially when you consider the White House has been accused (but I don’t think ever convicted) of propaganda mongering. This poem seems pretty innocuous as propaganda (though as poetry is dreadful). It reads like a campaign volunteer had some free time, wrote this, posted it on the internet and now, forever will it live in Infamy.

I’m writing my own President Bush poem too, though I think my President Clinton poem will be funnier. These structure poems are harder to write than they appear, and even though the first one is crappy I think the genre will flourish.