Vivian Wagner
Post-Election Advice from Four Poets
Emily Dickinson whispered something
oddly capitalized and fragmented
about death and loss, before asking
if I really wanted to risk my browsing privacy by
downloading a Chrome extension that turns
Donald Trump into kittens.
Walt Whitman shouted loudly
about raindrops and universes,
waving an electronic petition
from Change.org in my face,
telling me to sign it or find myself lost.
Theodore Roethke danced drunkenly
in the corner, his beard growing out,
muttering rhetorical questions about the
existential crisis of hacking,
calling Vladimir Putin one smart motherfucker.
Mary Oliver pointed to the sunrise
with its winter pink and orange,
and then said nothing,
waiting for me to speak.
Vivian Wagner is an associate professor of English at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio. Her work has appeared in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Creative Nonfiction, The Atlantic, The Ilanot Review, Silk Road Review, Zone 3, and other publications. She’s also the author of a memoir, Fiddle: One Woman, Four Strings, and 8,000 Miles of Music (Citadel-Kensington), and a poetry chapbook, The Village (forthcoming from Aldrich Press). Visit her website at www.vivianwagner.net.