When you stepped up to the podium
Certainly, you had a dream.
A dream of personal power and ambition,
A dream to make your name immortal,
To make you #1.
The antiseptic crowd which you assembled
Was poised to come together
To transcend personal complacency
For the first time in their lives--
We came
To hear your truth.
Your words
Were amplified by microphones
Expanded by megaphones
Transported by telephone
And injected by video
Into every living space
In our nation
And the world.
And you know what?
For all your noise,
For all your hype,
We all went home empty.
A speech is more
Than words and innuendo,
A dream is more
Than sterile sentiment,
And our leader was a man
Whose shoes you will never fill.