Wherefore hast thou brought me here, Spirit,
down from that cool transcendent sphere?
This was my earth, but I haven’t been near it
in more than six-score year!
They tell me this laughable monster
has been bandying ill my name –
yon pale, futuristic huckster,
right out of some tale from good Mark Twain.
What is he? The Devil’s infernal spy?
No, I do not think he’s that.
But pause, good Spirit…’tis dust in mine eye?
He’s sitting where Lincoln sat!
The nations are mocking, with much good fun,
this president and our Dream.
Ralph Waldo would say, “But here’s such a one
whom Nature could not redeem!”
Some jurists are striving to plead his case,
while others shout, “Hang that man!”
An odd representative of his race –
a plucked orangutan!