TheNewVerse.News : DEATH TAX

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

DEATH TAX

by Mark Hendrickson

In honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, President Donald J. Trump’s signature will appear on future U.S. paper currency along with the Secretary of the Treasury, marking the first time in history for a sitting president. —US Treasury Dept., March 26, 2026

According to a website calculator

what I paid in taxes last year

bought the government

350 to 500 rounds of ammo.

I wonder if I bought the bullets

that killed Pretti and Good

in Minneapolis

by men in masks

Or perhaps I helped pay

for the tomahawk missile

that killed over 100 girls

in a school in Iran.

I protest policies,

but pay my taxes

the way I was taught

good Americans should.

In this way I’m complicit.

Every dollar I send

will be signed by the culprit,

and signed off by me.

Mark Hendrickson (he/him) is a poet and writer in the Des Moines area navigating the Sturm und Drang of daily life through wordcraft. His words appear in The Ekphrastic Review, The New Verse News, and Modern Haiku. Follow him @MarkHPoetry, https://www.chillsubs.com/profile/mhendrickson

or on his website: www.markhendricksonpoetry.com

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Tuesday, March 31, 2026

DEATH TAX