Mitt Romney’s tax returns
Demands come from left and right.
Mitt Romney, though, says he’ll sit tight.
We’ve given you people enough,
Says Ann, sounding suddenly tough.
Conspiracy theories abound.
Mitt’s critics relentlessly pound.
Why go through this sort of ordeal?
What doesn’t Mitt want to reveal?
Some shelters far off from our shore?
Well, sure, but there has to be more.
And, really, we already know
His tax rate is terribly low.
Could some corporate losses have meant
That one year he paid not a cent?
What’s in there to make voters squeal?
What doesn’t Mitt want to reveal?
What deed was so sleazy that he’ll
So desperately try to conceal
Exposure with such stubborn zeal?
What fiddling did Romney feel
Should even a wealthy big wheel
Who feels some gray area’s appeal
Is slippery, just like an eel?
What doesn’t Mitt want to reveal?
Calvin Trillin: Deadline Poet: The Nation 8/13/2012