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Preponderance

Empty smiles
Linger on frozen faces
Caught in the flashbulb
Of political life

She started the path 
Of election
Wanting to be the chosen one
Wanting to help

To make a difference
Make things a little better
But somehow, some way
Those things got lost

It is difficult to identify 
When that happened
When did it start?
How did I end up here?

She remembered talking
To a concerned citizen
About the plight
Of children

It seemed innocent enough
Who isn't concerned about children?
It was easy to take
The money for support

But then, once the money
Had changed hands
Like thirty pieces of silver
The price was paid

And it became difficult
To say no
To the supporters
Who had contributed so much

And, again
It was for the children, wasn't it?
But it didn't stop there
It moved on to other things

The cause of trees
Of jobs for families
Of healthy products
Of things...

And on and on
Down the slope she slipped
Staff becoming larger
Campaign taking over

Until there was no more her
She was just the face, the name
The plastic smile
The empty promises

And she won
But everyone lost.

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