NARCISSIGNATURE

by James Penha

"Donald Trump should be focused on lowering costs, but instead he’s busy trying to put his name on your money. How does this help working families already drowning in this economy? Senator Jeff Merkley and I are pressing for answers.” —Senator Elizabeth Warren, April 4, 2026

It is not illegal to casually mark

with a name or small doodles

US paper currency as they do not

make the bill unusable. That’s why

you can find on e-bay greenbacks

for sale with the sharpied autograph

of Donald Trump across Washington’s

face. So when the bills with Trump’s

official signature come across your

palm, America, unleash blue sharpies

to caption his name with “pedophile”

or “POS” or “grifter” or just cross it out.

James Penha edits The New Verse News. His latest book is Queer As Folk Tales.

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

HIGHLY FUNGIBLE

by Maryanne Hannan

“Mr. Trump’s popularity — his support in some polls is double that of his closest competitors — is built on his unfettered style, rather than on his positions, which have proved highly fungible.” —Trip Gabriel, NY Times, Aug. 5, 2015. Image Source: Angie's Diary

Maryanne Hannan has published poetry in Rattle, Light Quarterly, WomenArts Quarterly, and Minnesota Review. A former Latin teacher, she lives in upstate New York.