It’s the end of the year, amidst holiday cheer

After this loathing and fear, will someone please hold my beer

Even in rose-colored glasses, 2023 was not all that stout

Let’s take stock of what happened and what it’s about

By George, the new Rep. Santos was exposed as a con

His tall tales evoked a hearty laugh and a frown

For a Congress thought to be in the dark

His fanciful falsehoods were like a final black mark

Kevin McCarthy learned there are far few worse fates

Than being dependent on the likes of Matt Gaetz

After 14 long roll calls to choose a Speaker

The result was one set up to be weaker

Trump dominated the news, the political giant

With gag orders and restraints, he was hardly compliant

Stunningly, he has come back from the politically dead

With vengeance and retribution filling his head

In debates sans the big man, we saw up close the fake

Of a blowhard named Ramaswamy, first name Vivek

As fortunes steadily dimmed for Gov. Ron DeSantis

Who displayed all the charm of an old praying mantis

Nikki Haley is in play, but probably destined for second

The base remains in Trump’s thrall, I do sadly reckon

We seem inexorably moving to a Trump-Biden replay

As the country holds its head in collective dismay.

After three years of inflation, the dollar buys less

Democrats find the issue an unwelcome guest

Along with headlines announcing that crime on the uptick

For the prez’s poll numbers, it’s one more troublesome prick

Though Joe’s biggest obstacle is the arithmetic of age

Voters of all stripes dismiss his capacities at this stage

Then there is the matter of the depraved, troubled son

Ditching Hunter isn’t an option, but would help the reelect run

Trump will spend as much time in court as on trail

Biden will go to lengths to avoid the appearance of frail

Voters will be parched as in a political drought

The common refrain will be, “Who else you got?”

Through the animated vengeance of Trump’s rat-a-tat-tat

There is an inescapable fear that he’s a would-be autocrat

The country seems consumed with raw tribalism and hate

To a wobbly political system, it is very heavy a weight

As this is written, there’s a ruling from our court supreme

Trump is ineligible for the ballot, the majority did deem

It will be appealed and could make beating him harder

Since he is practiced and masterful at playing the martyr

Republicans, once hawks, turned their back on Ukraine

If left up to them, they’d allow it to circle the drain

It seems rather a stretch to embrace the cold tyrant, Putin

Though led by Don, for Vlad they seem to be rootin’

Hamas’s brutal attack gave the world quite a shock

The horror made worse by videos posted on TikTok

Israel unleased a response in justified rage

While still trying to reclaim those taken hostage

Elon Musk rebranded dismal Twitter as X

His psyche is mean and definitely complex

While Fox bid adieu to their headliner Tucker

He thought himself safe, but Rupert played him a sucker

All manner of attention was paid dear Taylor Swift

Without her, the female half could be largely adrift

Mattel’s hit movie, Barbie, explored issues of gender

I just might have preferred to watch Ken on a bender

While back here at home, voters researched the facts

And said no to Dems’ ploy to reform property tax

By 20 full points, Proposition HH was beat

For Gov. Polis, it was a rare but major defeat

Lauren Boebert and date went for a night of Beetlejuice

Only to show her standards and decorum stunningly loose

To make such a display of rude vaping and grope

Requires a certain rare kind of political dope

“Enough” and “good riddance” said Colorado’s Ken Buck

A sign of a House hopelessly deep in the muck

While local Dems featured the duo of Hernandez and Epps

The GOP is not alone when it comes to outrageous Reps

The Republican State Chair, the buffoonish Dave

Seems intent on taking his party deeper into the grave

While Denver Schools after a year of gross disarray

Threw some bums out and will now get by without Tay

A field of 17 winnowed to Johnston and Brough

MJ’s vision (and money) proved more than enough

While Colorado Springs is a full-fledged big city, not semi

Now led by a different kind of mayor known as Yemi

Denver had news beyond ever-present homeless camps

After 47 years, the Nuggets were at last NBA champs

While at Folsom Field it was long overdue time

For excitement produced by CU’s Coach Prime

Pot has long been legal, now the same with the ‘shrooms

What this means for our health is a question that looms

While wolves are restored to the state’s Western Slope

Were it Boulder instead, voters would have said nope

This ode is finished, we’ll see what next year has in store

We hope you ring it in happily with those you adore

Eric Sondermann is a Colorado-based independent political commentator. He writes regularly for Colorado Politics and the Gazette newspapers. Reach him at EWS@EricSondermann.com; follow him at @EricSondermann