What Rough Beast | Poem for June 26, 2017

Melinda Thomsen
Constitutional Crisis

The U.S. Constitution
And Fascinating Facts About It
stays by my desk, its wave of red

stripes, white stars, and navy field
calms me like lemon balm tea.
Khizr Khan waved a similar one

at the Democratic Convention.
“Donald Trump, you’re asking
Americans to trust you with their

future. Let me ask you, have you even
read the United States Constitution?”
George Washington said,

“The Constitution is the guide,
which I never will abandon.”
In Gilbert Stuart’s Washington

portrait, books pile up beside
the table leg, including, you
guessed it: Constitution

And Laws Of The United States.
President Trump says, No.
“It’s a very rough system.

It’s an archaic system…
It’s really a bad thing for the country.”
Librarians mobilize to Bury

the White House in Books.
Librarians read writing on walls.
They urge Trump to, too.

I sent Jane Austen’s Persuasion,
a view of women with no rights
and felt the shame of sending

this to a shameless President.
So, here we stand: a citizen imploring
our President to read the U.S. Constitution,

librarians organizing a massive book
drop, thousands of scientists marching
to protest ignorance, and a French President

inviting American climate change
researchers, entrepreneurs, and engineers
to emigrate to France. Witness a nerd revolt,

or worse, our precious dweebs emigrating
as they flash their good-byes with travel-sized
constitutions, and we take a last look at thinking.

 

Melinda Thomsen is the author of the chapbooks Naming Rights (Finishing Line Press, 2008) and  Field Rations (Finishing Line Press, 2011). Her poetry has appeared in Heliotrope, Poetry East, Big City Lit, New York Quarterly, Heart of the Order: Baseball Poems, Blues for Bill: A Tribute to William Matthews, and Token Entry: New York City Subway Poems.

SUBMIT to What Rough Beast via our SUBMITTABLE site.

To support the mission and work of Indolent Books, consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Indolent Arts Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity.

Join our mailing list to receive news, updates, and special offers from Indolent Books.