The Politician's New Heart

His donor had danced the bogs of Ireland. Had swum the starlit waves of rocky shores. She was optimistic, despite sea rise and the quieting of birds. Despite parched orchids and disenchanted trees. To the end her mind stayed sharp, and her heart beat strong—a true denizen of the hills, hawthorns, and sea.

Today that heart beats in the politician’s chest, threading an elder light through modern veins. New thoughts arise in him daily: of the coexistence of enchanted trees and paved roads, of laws cast against the rising seas, of the integration of elemental wisdom. And a new campaign speech forms in his mind—its words free of pollution, and boldly green.

(From the book The Hunchback's Captive and Others)