after Dante Alighieri
 |
There is Jared Kushner encased in ice
Packed close to Trump gnawing
On Kushner’s head, the two shades
Wrapped in ice sheets reflecting
A mounting body of dishonesty,
A gold, Cyrillic script disappearing
As it appears, the demons awake
Long as the scroll takes, unwinding
Then winding again while the brute
Chews his son-in-law’s brain casing.
Silent, the pale skull, save for murmurs
Of a backchannel to Satan’s wing.
Beside these, Michael Flynn pecks
The bodies of wicked soldiers offering
Themselves to the stern-faced bird
Whose frozen beak prevents dining.
All this I see, with my poet guide,
Walt Whitman, beside me, the fattening
Of America, its undoing, still circles
Ahead of us, more furies unfurling.
Alejandro Escudé published his first full-length collection of poems My Earthbound Eye in September 2013. He holds a master’s degree in creative writing from UC Davis and teaches high school English. Originally from Argentina, Alejandro lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.