A Classic Bull (Political) Fight

 The Bullfighter enters the arena with the objective to kill and destroy his opponent for sport.  But not to kill it forthright.  He challenges it, he baits it, he toys with it.  He follows a proscribed ritual in front of the cheering spectators.

 But he honors his opponent and allows him to charge against a distant cape which hides the real implements of destruction.  The Bullfighter looks at him in the eye and engages him one on one.  He sinks in multiple swords to injure him, but not yet kill him.  After injuring it repeatedly until the once proud beast is now a pitiable creature, the Bullfighter waits for the crowd to scream its pleasures before delivering the coup de grace.

 The killing is a ritualized process to test the strength and bravery of the doomed creature before it is finally vanquished.  The final thrust is given as an act of mercy rather than an act of violence.  The Bullfighter accepts the applause of the crowd as he praises the vanquished bull.  He will even sing songs to honor his opponent after his death.  And then he will eat of his victim in order to gain strength for the next contest.

 So it is in the Bullfighting arena.

 So it is in the political arena.  (Especially during this political election.)

Curiousdwk

Daddy/Daughter Dance

The cologne upon your neck

Could make a small girl dizzy;

But I hung on like heck:

Such waltzing was not easy.

We romped until the pans

Slid from the kitchen shelf;

And Mama’s countenance

Could not unfrown itself.

The hand that held my wrist

Was battered on one knuckle;

And every step that you missed

Caused my ear to scrape your buckle.

You beat the time on my head

With a palm caked hard by dirt,

Then waltzed me off to bed

Still clinging to your shirt.

(Adapted by me, Curiousdwk, from My Papa’s Waltz, By Theodore Roethke)