by Patrick G. Roland
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AI-generated graphic by NightCafé for The New Verse News. |
Maybe every other president was doing it wrong.
Hell, maybe I’m doing it all wrong.
My four-year-old once told me
my tie looked like an elephant trunk with a cold,
so she swapped it for a toy mermaid’s tail,
and I got compliments—
even a high-five from my boss.
So, I turned to her again,
this time about the president’s tour of the Middle East.
In Saudi Arabia, he’s got luxury towers going up.
They gave him $600 billion for defense.
“Rapunzel had a tower for her hair, Daddy,
maybe he needs to protect his hair.”
In Qatar, it’s golf resorts and seaside villas.
They threw in $200 billion for Boeing,
and gave him a $300 million jet.
“When I eat all my dinner,” she said,
“I get vanilla ice cream for dessert.”
In the UAE: a golf course, a skyscraper, and a crypto deal.
They pledged $1.4 trillion for U.S. tech.
“Krypto was Superman’s doggy friend.”
Don’t get me wrong, it smells like what I think
immoral would smell like—
if ethics had a scent.
My daughter can smell hardened Play-Doh
before she even opens the canister.
So I asked her if any of the deals
smelled like an emolument.
She said mall monuments smell like pretzels.
“What am I doing wrong?” I asked.
You ask questions.
Patrick G. Roland is a writer and educator living with cystic fibrosis. He explores life’s experiences through poetry and storytelling, seeking to inspire others in the classroom and through writing. His work appears or is forthcoming in Hobart, Sacramento Literary Review, Maudlin House, Trampoline, and others.