Pseudo-Petrarchan Sonnet on a President Is a Wish Away from Being a King

I’ll tell you what’s     what’s an official act an
Official act is sure     if maybe sure
Maybe I kill a guy     if I deter
-mine he’s a threat to the country it’s a fact
Now     killing bad guys isn’t an exact
Science believe me     folks I wish it were
But wishes are for history to bur
-den with the consequences of bold action

That’s in a draft of the Project Twenty Twenty-
Five plan book thing Steve     said it was he says
It means it doesn’t matter why I do
Anything     what I do what matters is
I win now     Steve’s a smart guy     he knows plenty
It’s a good plan     I think it’s coming true

Elizabethan Sonnet on Violating the Flag Code

How much are we supposed to take the guy in
His yard he had     a sign it said Fuck Trump
And so my wife complained she     wasn’t whining
But it was like the guy just took a dump
In the middle of our neighborhood just right
There in the street     just took a shit his yard
The street whatever     anyway that might
Have been the end of it but she was scarred
My wife by the     foul mouth on this guy fucking
Filthy the things he said to her I’ll tell
You what that guy is lucky     very lucky
I wasn’t there      say Fuck Trump then     they’re all
Cowards you hang     it upside-down when you
Fear for your life     the flag says Fuck you too

Elizabethan Sonnet on from 2004 to 2023 Clarence Thomas Received $4 Million in Gifts

I made as much I almost made as much
Four million on the side as I got paid
Let myself down there     should’ve made as much
Made more you     either play or you get played
Why should I save a rich man’s life for free
I mean it’s that’s     it isn’t it the game
Their money or your life     black folks are free
As scraps of paper     curling in a flame

You only need a breeze and you will fly
God makes the breeze to blow     or you get burned
Friend     but it’s not God’s fault if you don’t fly
What if I hadn’t hustled     hadn’t learned
From wealthy men     those men affirm my power
You don’t have power if no one buys your power

John Doe
Poet, Independent Writer
IN CONVERSATION WITH
Shane McCrae