I read the more and more glory of gory
and titillating stories
and then along comes one
of a peanut farmer’s son —
a nuclear engineer and politician,
a humble Christian,
Jimmy, not James, Carter, ninety-three,
still working for injustice to flee,
and equality and peace simply to be.
Our thirty-ninth president
still lives in his humble residence
and he still teaches church school
and exercises in a swimming pool.
I once wrote a story titled “WWJCD?”
Jimmy is so filled with Jesus, he
was inserted in the story —
a take on the old “WWJD?”:
“What Would Jimmy Carter Do?”
as a role model for me and you.
Say what you will about his presidency;
he will always be a humble hero to me.