Elections, Politics, Consent, And #sexyvoterhaiku

Yesterday I was a crap mom.

Yesterday I got nothing done on my to-do list. My house remained a mess. I sat in a chair the entire day, almost.

I burned dinner. We ate bread.

I burned my eyes out staring at the computer screen.

Yesterday was an election day.

Yesterday over the course of eight hours I wrote a series of 69 haiku and published them on facebook and twitter. It was a completely improvisatory performance, unfolding in real time, exploring the metaphor of elections and politics as sexy, as seduction, as the whole damntangle.

It wasn’t something I planned. I just started noodling around in the morning with the idea that “voting is sexy” and before I knew it I was composing Sexy Voter Haiku one after another, and posting on facebook until the polls closed at 8 PM. Sometimes it happens that way.

Your name’s on the list.
You would be missed. Show up.
Tell me what you want.

Sexy Voter Haiku. As a friend and political scientist commented, “Never before have those three words been used together in the English language.” Of course it is ridiculous. Politics is not sex.

And yet, it is.

(consent edition)

Say what you want to
happen. It can’t happen if
you don’t say it, first.

In my opinion, last night the bad guys won. These are the goons who brought us mandatory transvaginal probes. If they (continue to) have their way over the next 2-4-6-10 years, the land will be gutted and fracked, waters polluted, public schools decimated, and cities and towns starved of funding. I think it’s pretty clear what is going on here.

Hold the pen, hold the
paper with its questions. Press.
Turn this poet on.

When is consensus like consent? How about compromise? That old idea that we keep talking til everyone verbally agrees and partners with each other.

These guys don’t work that way.

My colleagues here at the Mound, Christine Hoff Kraemer and Yvonne Aburrow are working on an anthology around the theme of consent in the pagan community(ies). It’s on my mind this morning, as I process the election results.

so many fingers
press so many buttons and then
watch the results

And this is what Sexy Voter Haiku gives us: a(nother) form of poetry that engages directly with political action and the public sphere.

Because in the face of powerlessness and defeat, Sexy Voter Haiku responds not with anger or despair, but with…joy. Delight. Silliness. This is life loving and life giving.

You do not need an
ID. And the cab is free.
Wisconsin quickie.

These are dark times, but we don’t have to feel defeated by them. Creation stands opposite to war, destruction, and indifference. And after all, good things can happen in the dark: secrets whispered, revolutions begun, seeds planted, babies made.

Moved my pen again
and again. Then the ballot
machine swallowed it.

So here is my series of 69 Sexy Voter Haiku, written on 11/4/14 from about 8 in the morning to 8 at night. They respond to my own experiences throughout the hours, the articles I was reading, the errands I was running. Some of them were written in direct response to comments or requests from friends, but I trust they all make sense, more or less, here in this context.

Now I want to see yours. Already I see a few appearing from my friends, here and there. This morning Wisconsin’s Secretary of State had a beauty, although he didn’t know it:

“This has been a ve-
ry wild and sad night. Final
results not in yet.”

There are people who are well-organized, well-funded, well-scripted who are winning right now. But…they are not sexy or juicy people. They don’t play very much or very well.

That is one of our advantages.

And, it should be clear, what I’m looking for and asking for doesn’t have to be haiku. It doesn’t have to be poetry. The challenge is to find that action that feels creative and joyful and life-giving to you, and use that to engage with the political, the community, the moment.

The revolution may or may not be televised. But it will be joyful through the dark, if I have anything to say about it. And it turns out, I do.

Sexy Voter Haiku

Sarah Sadie

November 4, 2014

Your name’s on the list.
You would be missed. Show up.
Tell us what you want.

2 (consent edition)

Say what you want to
happen. It can’t happen if
you don’t say it, first.

Hold the pen, hold the
paper with its questions. Press.
Turn this poet on.

so many fingers
press so many buttons and then
watch the results

You do not need an
ID. And the cab is free.
Wisconsin quickie.

Moved my pen again
and again. Then the ballot
machine swallowed it.

7 (literati edition)

Uppity women
wearing badges with honor
me and Hester Prynne

8 (bake sale edition)

Afterwards something
sugary to eat because
it makes me hungry.

9 (on being #360 to vote at my ward)

You spin me right round,
baby right round like a record
baby Rock the vote.

Politicians put
themselves in my bedroom, so
here I am. In bed.

Because when it comes
to turnout size does matter.
Please please me. Vote.

If I’m missing
a syllable, that’s where
you take a breath.

or maybe today
we have more important things
to count

14 (fb feed edition)

so far the porn one
has the most “likes”…oh Zuck, what
will you do with me

Vote. The cold shower
can wait. I want to be with
you when you go…vote.

Just think: from seven
this morning to eight tonight.
A woman can dream.

More and more of us
voting: how else to upset
Republicans…hmmm….

18 (phone bank edition)

Mine is the low voice
calling to say this is it,
today, now, please…

Why did I think I
would get anything else done
on election day

If what they’re doing
doesn’t make you hot and bothered
maybe I can. vote.

It steams up tonight
after polling closes. All
this is just build up.

22 (on voter education)

Know before you go.
I can tell you a little
learning goes a long way.

Buildup or foreplay
which is sexier…who cares,
open turns me on.

Women’s disenfran-
chisement was never sexy.
Go vote.

How long are the lines?
Not nearly long enough. I
am not satisfied.

Who says politics
and poetry don’t mix. Strange
bedfellows, but fun.

My presentation
on poems and civic engagement
is writing itself.

Wearing my sticker
to the grocery store…oh,
and a new bra, too.

29 (married edition)

“If you don’t vote, no
conjugal anything.”…(sly
smile, back home) “Long lines…”

You think I’m done? I
haven’t even mentioned the
word “tight.” We’re good, peeps.

Today it is tight
in many places. Insert
yourself. Vote.

Who needs a ride to
the polls? I’m ready to take
you where you want to go.

33 (early afternoon, strong turnout reported so far)

This is about the
time a woman hopes you will
keep going just keep…

34 (regarding voter fraud and difficulty)
We need to talk a-
bout protection. Be smart. Be
assertive. Own it.

Voting is far more
effective than Viagra.
Let’s end impotence.

Tweeting every one.
Because who wouldn’t want a
repeat performance?

Tell me you’ll be here
tonight. I don’t want to be
alone at the close.

38 (Poet Laureate edition)

Public poet is
a strange position but I
think it works for us.

39 (more about turnout)

When is big big
enough? Asked no woman
ever. Go vote.

40 (Rock the vote, 2)

U2 in my head
“You take me higher…” Now you, too,
take me higher. Vote.

To do this, you must
trust. You must be a grownup.
You must show up.

42 (on the rule that tablets and phones may prove residence)

Battery operated
devices are accepted
in this state I’m in.

43 (seeing pictures of suffragettes)

all these pictures of
women doing it must make
you want to, too.

Midterm, midlife, I’m
not hard to please and not too proud:
show me your sticker.

Me and the pumpkin
spice latte “Keeping fall spicy”
Spice up your night: vote.

Just when I start to
feel tired, the post work voters
tell me “You’re not done.”

Let’s try something new.
Because aren’t you too bored with
the same old same old?

This is what third wave
Sex positive feminism
Sounds like. Turned on? Vote.

49 (about 5 PM)

We still have hours to
go which in almost any game
is more than enough.

50 (if you’re in line when the polls close)

don’t let anyone
tell you differently:
if you’re in you’re in

no one calls it yet:
we’re not done here and you’re not
allowed to fake it

ask their history
before you consent and they
should ask your consent. Vote.

How am I doing this?
Four long years of frustration,
people. Long enough.

Nothing is sexier
than a first time voter I
don’t care your age. Vote.

Oh my one track mind
burned the hell out of dinner.
Bread it is, kids.

Right wing pundits say
we shouldn’t vote our gender?
So not getting any.

I know the only
reason you haven’t voted yet:
to hear me beg. Please.

Quadruple digits
at many wards. Take me to
eleven, people.

By night’s end I will
be exhausted. But satisfied?
Remains to be seen.

If nothing else by
midnight there will be a new
poetic form

tonight and to-
morrow I expect a little
pillow talk, friends

to all of you who
have been my muses: it takes
two to do it right.

This is what happens
when I stop baking cupcakes
Complaints, anyone?

64 (On the rule that if you are in line at 8 PM, you can still vote if you stay in line)

Even better than
last time: if you’re in, stay in.
Please. Do this for me.

Now when people ask
What does a poet laureate do
I’ll have an answer

Thirty minutes left
Plenty of time for the
Wisconsin quickie

Stay with me just stay
with me a little longer
don’t roll over yet

do the talking heads
not know we like it slow and
steady? Counting votes is sexy.

I hope it was good
for you, friends. Whether it will
be good for us …we’ll see.

Elections, Politics, Consent, and #sexyvoterhaiku