Earmarks Poem by Sidi Mahtrow

Earmarks they're called by those that know
Are notches put in a pig's ear or perhaps rings in the nose.
Which are put there to draw attention
That this hog belongs to one of some station.

Turned loose to run free at public expense
To feed outside the confines of a proper fence.
A rouge that is said to belong
To one of certain renown.

Earmarks were once put in a legal register
So no one would confuse ownership (for worse or better)
But in the current day and time
Earmarks are put there for a reason more sublime.

You'll never know who was responsible
Perhaps someone that should be culpable(?)
Yet they're called earmarks because
Now the object is to obscure ownership within the laws.

Before earmarks were known by a title more correct,
Pork (as it was called) which did reflect,
That fat was mixed midst the lean
To flavor the pot of a politician it would seem,
So that he (or she if the case be) could claim
Ownership (after-all everyone does it) without shame.

Yet now the pols of the hour
Making faces, most dour
Have proclaimed that they'll have nothing to do
With earmarks (well maybe only a few) .
And point their finger at those on the other side
Who surely have so much to hide.

It's a game that the Hatfields and the McCoys did play
As they fought tooth and nail in their day,
Until they discovered that earmarks were good
As long as the 'record' was clearly understood.
And that someone else would pick up the bill
(Well isn't that the way things are done on the Hill?)

Congratulations Ms. Nancy!