Snake Oil Cabinet

Snake Oil Cabinet
            
In days of old the snake
oil salesman travelled
the backroads and country sides,
horse-drawn, pulling
behind him his wagon
full of nostrums, creams,
lotions, dried leaves,
charming the rubes with promises
of relief from their suffering.
 
Today he occupies 
the highest office
in the land, beamed into every
living room, office,
even the palm of every hand.
 
With oratory banished,
crudity mistaken for honesty,
he installs his cabinet
full of charmless
fear-mongers, greased
and ready to sell or be sold.
 
It’s the age of marketing
and branding,
led by a spray-tanned
billboard advertising nothing
but his own emptiness.
 
The line between news
and entertainment
obliterated long ago,
the con artists now assail
the line between government
and salesmanship,
and no one stands a chance.