What Rough Beast | Poem for March 14, 2020

Chad Parenteau
Resistance Tankas, Reel 12

Hilary Clinton Jesus Tanka

Hilary Clinton—
(No, good fucking God please no!)
Hilary Clinton—
(no, no, no, not this again!)
Hilary Clinton—(please stop!)

William Barr Jesus Tanka

William Bar Jesus,
when asked by [name redacted]
Are you [redacted]?
looked up to [redacted] and
answered [redacted] [redacted].

Rudy Giuliani Jesus Tanka, Take Four

Rudy G. Jesus
hasn’t been seen in a while.
His one miracle
is to walk between the drops
of America’s shitstorm.

Elizabeth Warren Jesus Tanka

Liz Warren Jesus
fell so short on followers,
she had to fill in
for both victim and savior
of her own stoning.

Bernie Sanders Jesus Tanka

When it’s all over,
Bernie Sanders Jesus needs
no nails for the cross.
His straw body hangs nicely,
comes back down, four years later.

Joe Biden Jesus Tanka

Joe Biden Jesus
(Wait, we’re really doing this?
Are you sure? Okay!)
Joe Biden Jesus is…here.
That’s all we’re sure of right now.

Chad Parenteau is the author of Patron Emeritus (FootHills Publishing, 2013). His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Tell-Tale InklingsQueen Mob’s Tea HouseThe Skinny Poetry JournalIbbetson Street, Molecule, and Résonance. He serves as associate editor of Oddball Magazine and hosts the venerable Stone Soup Poetry series in Boston. His second full-length collection, The Collapsed Bookshelf, is forthcoming.

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