New Poem WINNING UGLY 2020

Inspired by a Rolling Stones song from thirty-five years ago.

Pour my endless money into TV commercials
Hope voters stay low information
Respond like lab rats to stimulation
Give them some exhilaration
>
Watch me put Tweedle-Dum down
As I, Tweedle-Dee, paint him as lying clown
Though he says the same things about women
And people of color that I do
>
In a debate, I’ll defend my misdeeds
Then, I’ll pay for a video carefully edited
Making me look like the winner I wasn’t
>
I’ll spend my way to the top
I’ll make liberals cry in despair
I want no taxes raised on me
As a billionaire, I consider this fair
>
If you dare get in my way,
I’ll force you to sign a NDA
And I’ll have you stopped and frisked
On your way home after you’re disinvited
From taking part in my reboot of America

Older Poem: SHAKEN

Originally published in a 2016 issue of POETIC DIVERSITY.

SHAKEN

sitting at sixth grade desk

but shoulders and back

at too low an angle

so the homeroom teacher

came up to me

and fiercely expelled

the physical demons

she thought I possessed

punctuating this with shouts

about my bad bad behavior

as other students looked 

and did nothing

for fear of teacher

striding to the closet

and pulling big wooden paddle

off its hook

  

this was recorded for posterity

by nondigitized memory

and may never be erased

Donald Trump’s Impeachment Summatized

Last night’s pre-acquittal debacle was brought to you by Nancy Pelosi’s dithering, Mitch McConnell’s cynical machinations, John Roberts’s cowardice and Donald Trump’s autocratic de-evolution of the presidency.

And let’s not forget the DNC and RNC, who each have their preferred candidates and (especially with the DNC) are maneuvering towards primary/convention results that will have little bearing on the will of the people who aren’t cheated (RNC) out of the right to vote in a 2020 election which appears likely to be the most vituperative/volcanic of all.

Finally, progressives/centrists should stop fantasizing about John Bolton showing up on the Senate floor to become a profile in courage. It won’t happen.