Political Parties, VI

I've been registered

as an independent

for as long

as I've been a voter.

It's kind of a tradition

up in Maine

where I grew up.

Jesse Ventura

grabbed all the headlines

in his buckskin

and memories

of when he was

"The Body"

over in Minnesota

but in Maine

we had Angus King

who went from Augusta

to the Senate

and that was all a kind of affirmation

for someone

who still believes

there can be

a middle ground

in the battlelines

of politics

in the United States.

I'm not saying

it's a solution

for everyone

but I'm kind of tired

of the overpolarization

of society,

of the inability

to imagine

reaching across the aisle

much less 

just trying

to be a civil servant

and getting things done

every once in a while.