James Tate, "Bounden Duty"

This is one of the spookiest and best Tate poems I've read in years. I think it is about Bush, but Tate claims that it is about Clinton, which shows that a poet can misunderstand his own work. The flaws in Tate's recent poetry actually work in this poem. If it were better written the dramatic monologue wouldn't be as convincing. As it is it's spot on. No fine writing here.