by Ron Shapiro
On the White House lawn,
the president has erected
a 90 foot tall structure
nicknamed “The Claw”
for a UFC fight on the
night of his birthday.
With the People’s House
in the background, a violent
battle with cuts, blood and bruising
will unfold on the front lawn.
Cheering on senseless cruelty with
the rage of Orwell’s Two Minute Hate,
movie stars, soldiers and politicians
will celebrate the moral rot of amerika.
And then it will be over.
But the president wants to the cage
and claw to remain long after as
a symbol of Greatness, a new landmark,
akin to the Eiffel Tower.
Not a bad idea especially if the structure
can be used for senators and congress people,
along with billionaires, to enter the octagon
and beat the crap out of each other.
Let policy be directed by who has the strongest
arms and legs or the best submission hold not
the biggest mouth and the loudest voice.
No more words dressed as manipulative
rhetoric. Grunts and groans now command
Attention. Schumer versus McConnell or
Owens against Allred? Let the people choose
the bouts then let ‘em go at it. Put the show
on Netflix. Encourage betting. Let winners
Decide what’s best for the country. With
one punch to the gut, a kick in the groin
or a two-finger eye poke, universal health
care, a tax on the wealthy right around the corner.
So keep the cage standing. It may be just what
this country needs to progress towards the future
and bend the moral arc a bit closer to justice.
the president has erected
a 90 foot tall structure
nicknamed “The Claw”
for a UFC fight on the
night of his birthday.
With the People’s House
in the background, a violent
battle with cuts, blood and bruising
will unfold on the front lawn.
Cheering on senseless cruelty with
the rage of Orwell’s Two Minute Hate,
movie stars, soldiers and politicians
will celebrate the moral rot of amerika.
And then it will be over.
But the president wants to the cage
and claw to remain long after as
a symbol of Greatness, a new landmark,
akin to the Eiffel Tower.
Not a bad idea especially if the structure
can be used for senators and congress people,
along with billionaires, to enter the octagon
and beat the crap out of each other.
Let policy be directed by who has the strongest
arms and legs or the best submission hold not
the biggest mouth and the loudest voice.
No more words dressed as manipulative
rhetoric. Grunts and groans now command
Attention. Schumer versus McConnell or
Owens against Allred? Let the people choose
the bouts then let ‘em go at it. Put the show
on Netflix. Encourage betting. Let winners
Decide what’s best for the country. With
one punch to the gut, a kick in the groin
or a two-finger eye poke, universal health
care, a tax on the wealthy right around the corner.
So keep the cage standing. It may be just what
this country needs to progress towards the future
and bend the moral arc a bit closer to justice.
Ron Shapiro, an award-winning teacher, has published over 20 poems in publications including Nova Bards 24 & 25, Virginia Writers Project, The New Verse News, Poetry X Hunger, Minute Musings, Backchannels, Gezer Kibbutz Gallery, All Your Poems, Paper Cranes Literary Magazine, Zest of the Lemon and two chapbooks: Sacred Spaces, Wonderings and Understory, a collection of nature poetry.
