I am from Kentucky.

My statement is a confession,
a confession made not to a priest
but to all citizens. I seek absolution
for my sin of residence, for being
from the state that every cycle
since 1984 — 1984! what irony! —
delivers to the national stage an actor
who exercises deviousness, lust
for power, and patent contempt
for the Constitution and the purpose
of government to uphold the common good.
Even though I have opposed him
in every election, I cannot help but feel
a burden of geographic guilt.