But as 2009 draws to a close, it's time to be a little introspective, so Polis has sent a holiday message complete with two of his own poems. The family fortune that helped fund his congressional run came from the greeting card industry, after all. And as Polis writes in his e-mail missive, "My mother is a poet, and while I can't hold a candle to her abilities, I hope you will enjoy my effort (at least more than you would a recitation of bills that we passed)."
His ode to 2009 follows:
2009, by Jared Polis
2009 come and gone May 2010 be more ripe for song. A difficult year for our nation and world Around us recession, war, strife, all swirled
People jobless Their families without bread Looked to our congress To make them well fed
We passed several bills "Drink from the public swill" to AIG, autos, and clunker-owners we said, And the result, of course: to a higher deficit it led
The mountains of Afghanistan we occupy still Our troop levels there continue to build I listened to generals, to scholars to spooks, Yet Al Queda isn't there, In Pakistan and Yemen we should look
So too we occupy old Babylon With a promise we must honor to soon be gone
While in Washington the Pachyderms and asses did battle Fighting and bickering and sounding like rattlers Hissing and striking, hemming and hawing, Displaying plumage and pomp Never listening always talking
But despite us the engine of America is strong The free market's cycles are not decades long There is a natural rhythm to things Of seasons Fall, Winter, Summer and Spring Of what futures markets bring Of Dows, Russells, Standards and Poors Of bears and of bulls, of declines and of soars Of jobs and good wages to support honest folk Of people borrowing and then struggling to throw off debt's yoke
Some cry "depression"! Others "mild recession"! Still the country presses on awaiting the bright new dawn
As for my prescription, Hardly worth an inscription The doctors say it best " Do no harm," And a night's good rest.