Something new I think you might like

Never Trump Poetry, a poem-a-day Substack brought to you by poet Dale K. Nichols and editor Michael Broder.

Through my role as editor of Second Coming, I discovered the poetry of Dale K. Nichols. For some time now, Dale has been writing his own distinctive brand of “never Trump poetry.” Formally, much of Dale’s work employs short lines of iambic or anapestic verse with substitutions, often in an AA BB CC or an ABAB rhyme scheme, as well as occasional completely free verse.

Dale’s political poetry is highly accessible, including to those who do not regularly read contemporary poetry. It is also highly intelligent and generally quite witty. Dale’s poetry is enjoyable, even when the issue at hand is quite dark and devious. There is a place in current American political discourse for witty, intelligent, accessible political poetry. Indeed, there is a place—perhaps even a crying need—for such poetry in the currently emerging and rapidly growing pro-democracy movement in this country.

Enter Never Trump Poetry, a new poem-a-day Substack with poems written by Dale and edited and published by me, Beachcomber Mike, aka Michael Broder, aka the founding editor and publisher of Indolent Books.

Click here or on the portrait of Dale below to check out Never Trump Poetry.

And here for your reading pleasure is a recent poem by Dale K. Nichols

Dale K. Nichols
One-Eyed Jacks

All in with a pair
of one-eyed jacks
is a very bad bet…
when they’re wielding an axe,

your head is the one
on the chopping block,
and you can’t buy a thing
with your now worthless stock,

when the knaves you love
and wrongly mistook
as saviors, are sinners—
a thief and a crook,

when your would-be king
and his sidekick duke
look down on the law
while above rebuke,

when the rest of the world
has had enough
and decides it is time
to call their bluff,

when the cards you admire
are playing with fire
and time on the clock
is about to expire.