By
In Jo's Blog

Politician Donald Trump, points emphatically; backdrop US flag

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Donald Trump

I

Among that dismal array of Republicans,

The only one connecting

Is a blowhard businessman.

II

I was of three minds,

Like a ballot

On which there are three unacceptable candidates.

III

The Trump card whirled in the primary winds.

It is a hot-air inflated part of a high stakes poker game.

IV

An angry white man and a frightened white man

Are one.

Anger and fear and Donald Trump

Are one.

V

I do not know which to fear more,

The promise of terror

Or the terror of promises,

The candidate posturing

Or just after.

VI

Fear of the other fills the long campaign

With assaults and showdowns.

The ignorance of the candidate

Crosses lines, right and left.

The lies

Spouted daily

Pollute the atmosphere.

VII

O greedy, anxious voters,

Why do you imagine golden birds?

Do you not see how how Donald Trump’s wealth

Will always and forever

Belong only to him?

VIII

I know noble truths

And lucid, inescapable rhythms;

A Constitution written by white slave-holders,

A Bill of Rights by men who

denied women and children theirs.

IX

If Donald Trump wins the election,

It will mark the edge

Of any one of nine circles.

X

At the sight of Trump Towers

Built on slum rents and pimp profit,

Even the Founding Fathers

Would cry out sharply.

XI

He rides over people with disability

In a glass coach.

Once, a fear pierced him,

In that he mistook

The shadow of his vehicle

For a wheelchair.

XII

The delegate count moved steadily upwards.

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

XIII

It has been evening all afternoon.

It is snowing in July

And a frozen Hell is possible.

Donald Trump is sitting

Beside that rough beast.

Its hour has come round at last.

Showing 4 comments
  • Ravi Chopra
    Reply

    Astonishingly brilliant!

    • Aparna
      Reply

      Yes Ravi. Astonishingly brilliant. Like Jo

  • Reply

    The only thing I am sure of is that Hillary Clinton scares the hell out of me – Donald Trump has raised a wonderful family and has a successful business – with it’s ups and downs, and it has been a very rough campaign with paid crowds of mostly thugs at his rallies, not at everyone’s rallies – so with the Republican party not being able to put up a single candidate that the people wanted it – he won the nomination fair and square – get over it – it can’t get any worse than the last ten years of failed everything –

  • Jo
    Reply

    Failed everything? I’m wondering what you are referring to?

    President Obama saw the country through the Great Recession, got us out of Iraq, pushed through health care reform so that most people can now afford insurance, and is moving creatively and effectively to address climate change. On his watch, we saw the Marriage Equality Act pass and discrimination against gays in the military made illegal. The economy has never been stronger.

    If raising a great family is your litmus test, Barack Obama has done a remarkable job and so has Hillary Clinton. Chelsea seems to be a balanced and delightful young woman in spite of a philandering father (just like Mr Trump).

    Maybe you should think about the wisdom of “getting over it” and take a closer look at the human being you are thinking of supporting. Mr Trump is a nasty man. He’s a bully and he enjoys humiliating people. He is not a unifier and he has no leadership (in the true sense) qualities. I cannot understand why any sensible, kind person (you seem to be both) would vote for him, much less want him to be President.

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