Axar.az presents an article "The Poetry Of Politics" by John Samuel Tieman.

Part 6, Vote Old Soldier

Readers of my column know of my interest in American politics. What you might not know is my long-standing interest in municipal politics. I have decided to run for City Council in my home, University City, Missouri, an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis. I live in the Second Ward.

My regular readers are also accustomed to seeing an essay. What follows is a diary. I've purposely left out, or changed, the names of neighbors who are not well-known public figures.

Some folks know national politics, some state politics. But what does municipal democracy look and feel like? To answer that, I will chronicle each week my bid, win or lose, for a four- year term in office. This retired teacher still likes to teach – And learn! -- civics.

26 December 2023

It's official. The wait is over. Today was the last day that anyone could file for candidacy. In an email from the City Clerk, I was informed that I will be unopposed. Barring anything unusual, I will be elected to the city council in April. So my birthday, January the 1st, came a few days early this year.

I don't plan to slow down my activities. I plan to continue meeting with neighbors in groups and individually. One plan is to meet with faith leaders, pastors, rabbis, lay leaders. A listening period. I want to hear the top concerns of folks. So I don't plan to slow down my activities, but I do plan to slow down my anxiety.

I don't have an opponent. But I do have opposition. The culture warriors are still out there. The culture wars have locally taken at least four forms, attempts to privatize governmental functions, anti-labor measures, antisemitism, and homophobia. The culture warriors don't want to empower the neighborhood. No, they want to control it. If I do nothing else in the next four years, I vow to stand in opposition to such hatred -- I will consider it a duty. Old soldier that I am, I will guard against the re-emergence of such hatred. I'm thinking about the Veterans Day speech I gave a few weeks ago. I said, “Military service heightens every veteran's sense of what it means to be a citizen, what it means to fulfill a duty, what it means to answer the call of the bugle.”

28 December 2023

Sometimes here, in University City, when I hear the cynicism of the culture warriors, when I hear their nihilism, when I hear them trash government, I just want to scream – Do you know where you live!?!? Do you know how much gratitude you should have?

I've lived in the Third World. I've seen the bloated bellies of the starving children. I've seen the verdant landscape turned into industrial robot vomit. I remember once, when a policeman stopped me, it occurred to me that I could be detained for the poem I wrote and had in my bag. I saw combat in Vietnam.

In Buenos Aires, I once said to a friend, a friend who suffered greatly during La Guerra Sucia, “That policeman there, he looks formidable.” My friend's response? “Don't be afraid of the policeman you can see. Be afraid of the one you can't see.”

We have problems. Of course, we have problems! But we've got no problems that a vigorous democracy, that a vibrant republic, can't solve. Think about that the next time you walk down our tree-lined streets. And rather than the cynicism of the culture warriors, rather than their negativism – be grateful. For just a second, be grateful.

29 December 2023

I didn't ask for this office. But, now that I have started this journey, I enjoy it. I love my neighborhood and my neighbors.

That said, I've also known anxiety and worry like I have seldom endured. Family, friends and neighbors have promised time and money to my campaign. I won't be needing that now, of course, because I won't be campaigning per se. But I feel such gratitude. Running for office is hard, time-consuming, stressful. In offering time and money, and in offering simply good wishes, folks have made me feel loved and wanted and valued. I will never be able to fully express my gratitude.

I will, of course, continue to write a weekly essay. This likely will be my last diary entry concerning this race.. What is before me now is duty. Duty is not a concept that recommends itself in our age of self-absorption. Many wish to do the great and memorable task. And I truly wish those folks well. But duty compels most of us to that which is intimate and local, tasks that will never be immortalized in marble and bronze, but may, if we are lucky, be remembered for a short time by a few. Teresa of Calcutta once said, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” That's my promise. With great love, to serve this place, this town, my home. Duty is, after all, love.