Chad Parenteau
Riot Acts
The flags are so they know they’re home.
U.S.A.! U.S.A! U.S.A.! U.S.A!
They just want what was always theirs.
Four more years! Four more years!
U.S.A.! U.S.A! U.S.A.! U.S.A!
Trump 2020 flag ready to be planted.
Four more years! Four more years!
Last year stares down present’s face.
Trump 2020 flag ready to be planted.
Blue line is thin, except when not there.
Last year stares down present’s face.
Who dances between rubber bullets?
Blue line is thin, except when not there.
They’re opening the fucking gates!
Who dances between rubber bullets?
Is a mob not a mob when there’s a bomb?
They’re opening the fucking gates!
The Capitol will hang on a noose.
Is a mob not a mob when there’s a bomb?
We’re in! We’re in! We’re in! We’re in!
The Capitol will hang on a noose.
Note to Pelosi: We will not back down!
We’re in! We’re in! We’re in! We’re in!
MAGA hat selfies taken with guard.
Note to Pelosi: We will not back down!
Trump goes from holding bible to sermon.
MAGA hat selfies taken with guard.
Mass is over. Go home and in peace.
Trump goes from holding bible to sermon.
They just want what was always theirs.
Mass is over. Go home and in peace.
The flags are so they know they’re home.
—Submitted on 01/07/2021
Chad Parenteau is the author of The Collapsed Bookshelf (Tell-Tale Chapbooks, 2020) and Patron Emeritus (FootHills Publishing, 2013). His poems have appeared in Résonancee, Queen Mob’s Tea-House, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, and other journals. Parenteau is a regular contributor to Headline Poetry & Press as well as associate editor of Oddball Magazine. Online at chadparenteaupoetforhire.com.
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