Politics...

How can I, that girl standing there,
My attention fix
On Roman or on Russian
Or on Spanish politics?
Yet here's a travelled man that knows
What he talks about,
And there's a politician
That has read and thought,
And maybe what they say is true
Of war and war's alarms,
But O that I were young again
And held her in my arms! - Yeats

The first four lines of this poem are featured in the 1964 edition of Crick's In Defence of Politics, which I am currently rereading. I don't have the knowledge to hash out a thorough critique of this piece, but I felt it was most appropriate to share as we enter a presidential election year. Let us not forget that politics is many things to many people, but as Yeats urges us -- Don't let it get in the way of love... sweet love.