Thank you for democracy.
I have been enlightened by your presence.
You have helped me understand what democracy means.

I pay my taxes a fingernail at a time.
Eight down and only my thumb nails to go.

Twenty-three straight days wearing the hood you have so kindly donated to me.
Or so you say. I can't keep track on my own. I have to trust you in such things.
You know so much more than I do.
Thank you. I do not have to see your face.
I don't have to worry about which direction the next kick will come from.
I don't have to be embarrassed that someone will see my broken face.

And thank you for my subsidized housing.
I know you are expending valuable resources on my behalf and couldn't afford a room in which I could stand up or lie down.
At least it is always brightly lit and you have helped me expand my cultural awareness to include heavy metal music.
Such marvelous music in the West.
I had no idea what I was missing.

You bring me the questions I have learned to live by.
I don't understand my own answers but you seem to be pleased when I speak, even if it is just a groan or a shriek. I'm sorry but that is often the best I can manage.
I meditate at my leisure on what I should say.
On what you want.

Yes, thank you for democracy.
I have been elected. Chosen.
And if your marvelous medical care mistakenly keeps me alive,
I will remember.

Pat Conover
September 27, 2006