We never met.
You died when I was a kid
and never knew I existed.
But I see you sitting there
ramrod straight before the mic 
at a Senate Committee hearing,
eyes fixed straight ahead
pushing back against
an influence-peddling probe.
(Maybe you never apologized either.)

But you knew dirt,
you and Nixon peddling pink paper,
smearing liberals, 
ruining reps.
You, communist whisperer,
professor of dirty tricks. 
Yes, you knew dirt.

Damnit!
I wish we cold talk
as the republic
is stalked,
it publicly going  
where republics go to die,
and sworn leaders still lie.
You knew dirt.
What would you say to this? 
 
                                                                        After Murray Chotiner,
                                                                        attorney, political strategist,
                                                                        who ran Richard Nixon’s 
                                                                        early political campaigns
                                                                        and became the target of  a
                                                                        congressional investigation.