From there to here, and now this. Even though I don't dare tread too close to iambic pentameter, I'm sure the broody, apocalyptic villanelles I used to scrawl in notebooks during second period organic chem would make me a far superior poet laureate than Sarah Palin. Sadly, that fact has no weight without the support of luminous literati like Prospect's Julian Gough. His endorsement of Palin as American poet laureate should make the Alaskan governor squeal with glee at a chance for extended relevance, apart from various follies in helping to thwart a Democratic stronghold in the Senate.

Gough has found such gems as "The Relevance of Africa," in which he presents a Palinesque sonnet: "And the relevance to me / With that issue, / As we spoke / About Africa and some / Of the countries / There that were / Kind of the people succumbing / To the dictators / And the corruption / Of some collapsed governments / On the /Continent, / The relevance / Was Alaska's." A more complete anthology of Palin's verse is available at Slate. But even Palin's quotables are haiku-friendly. For example, with minimal modification, "Alaska is like / a microcosm of the U.S., not foreign" sums up one of her key campaign platforms more effectively any Homeric epic could.