Ode to the Minnesota Lege

By Leigh Pomeroy

This month we convened our minds and our hearts
To lovingly practice political arts;
'Neath the gilded sheen of our Capitol Dome
For the next several months this will be our dear home.

From far and wide 'cross this great state
We convened in St. Paul to determine the fate
Of many a proposal and many a bill
Till we've reached our quota, our lawmaking fill.

From Margaret and Marty to Larry and Dave
We've said we'll be friends, we've promised to behave,
Despite the fact that just months ago
We were slinging the mud at all we called foe.

Now somewhere beyond legislature land
There's a mysterious force — a guiding hand;
Like a god from Olympus he mettles with mortals
And sometimes he's seen traversing our portals.

Who is this Adonis with smile so bright
(Who gives DFLers a terrible fright),
Who's seemed to forswear his policies past
To lead more gently in this term that's his last?

Or perhaps it's the writing he's seen on the wall:
Election results from just this past fall.
His party has faltered, some solons have fallen,
A hush claims their hordes, their demeanor more solemn.

But back to the lege, which now has the power
To deliver more funds to the state's ivory towers.
Our Adonis concurs — or so we hear
Or is't to advance his blooming career?

Yes, the lege has been lost by the Grand Old Party,
Yet that voice will be heard, thanks to Marty
And Dave and others swearing fiscal restraint
(Hopefully free of the White House's taint).

Yes, all in all, most will agree
The state's in good shape, its pedigree
Still strong and acknowledged wide and far,
As the gem of the plains, the great North Star.