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Submission Guidelines: Send 1-3 unpublished poems in the body of an email (NO ATTACHMENTS) to nvneditor[at]gmail.com. No simultaneous submissions. Use "Verse News Submission" as the subject line. Send a brief bio. No payment. Authors retain all rights after 1st-time appearance here. Scroll down the right sidebar for the fine print.
Showing posts with label serious. Show all posts
Showing posts with label serious. Show all posts

Thursday, June 05, 2025

PRESIDENTIAL, THE SCOWL SAYS IT ALL

by Peter A. Witt


The White House released a new version of President Trump's official portrait on June 2, 2025. 


Ah yes, the look of a leader—
if your idea of leadership
comes from reality TV reruns
and late-night Twitter storms.

Behold, the squint of gravitas,
or maybe just squinting
because truth is blinding.

The hair—a masterpiece of engineering,
suspended like disbelief,
defying physics and sincerity alike.

That suit? Tailored to say “power,”
but mostly says,
“Does this blue make me look important?”

The flag pin, a delicate touch—
as if it might distract from the fact
that this is more wax museum
than White House.

He stares, not with wisdom,
but with the intensity of someone
trying to remember
where he left his talking points.

Yes, this is a portrait of a man
who believes looking serious
is the same as being serious.

Presidential?
Sure, in the same way
wearing a goofy hat 
makes you royalty.


Peter A. Witt lives in Texas. His work has appeared in The New Verse News, other online publications, and several print volumes.

Wednesday, May 02, 2018

LAWYERING

by Alejandro Escudé





There’s no free association on the mood-bus.
The mind of the President’s lawyer and his team
of modules; so that, you have a blank canvas
awakened at birth to reveal the edgings of industry.
He says, “I hope he’s doing alright.” The word
“alright” refers to business. It’s not Jesus dying
on the splintered cross, or Peter observing
the feet of his followers. I see a guitar hanging,
Mussolini, his mistress, Italians spitting words
like spit and spit like words over their corpses.
I dated a girl once I met on a website, beautiful
and dumb. She had one phrase she’d text
over and over again: “Are you serious?”

That was it. “Are you serious?” I wasn’t serious.
The ground gave way, or the server, and I saw
she was a myriad of connections. Her system
opened before me and she posed on a shell,
beckoning with her infinite curls. And he was
there to defend me, the businessman-lawyer,
extending the trial. My voice trilling with anger.


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.