After an Election
I see
on my way to work
a beggar’s sign
outside a hotel
Happy Days Are Here Again
on this
the coldest day of the year
in Pittsburgh
not yet imagined by Dante
the rivers frozen
the hard snow
burning
the sons
and daughters
of steelworkers
and coal miners
like a cigarette
before execution
in the last days of the Republic
I see
on my way to work
a beggar’s sign
outside a hotel
Happy Days Are Here Again
on this
the coldest day of the year
in Pittsburgh
not yet imagined by Dante
the rivers frozen
the hard snow
burning
the sons
and daughters
of steelworkers
and coal miners
like a cigarette
before execution
in the last days of the Republic
What Trump Will Do
He will
kill a car
and eat it
one fender
at a time
he will flood a road
and collapse the asphalt
he will push sand
in the middle of our town
like a bulldozer
and leave it piled
far from the beach
he will drown us
and there will be no way to call for help
until the woodpeckers
down by the creek
are done making holes in the moon
big enough to fit in a pocket
like these words
He will
kill a car
and eat it
one fender
at a time
he will flood a road
and collapse the asphalt
he will push sand
in the middle of our town
like a bulldozer
and leave it piled
far from the beach
he will drown us
and there will be no way to call for help
until the woodpeckers
down by the creek
are done making holes in the moon
big enough to fit in a pocket
like these words
John Stupp is the author of Advice from the Bed of a Friend, by Main Street Rag. His poem “Goat Island” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2016. His new book, Pawleys Island, will be published in 2017 by Finishing Line Press. He lives near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.