To: The Wrecking Ball This morning our good friend sent me of Maggie Smith’s wonderful, hard, sobering poem “Good Bones” in response to yesterday’s letter. Here’s a link to the poem on her blog: http://waxwingmag.org/items/Issue9/28_Smith-Good-Bones.php. I’m 99% sure I’ve told you about this poem before, but it was a long time ago so I’ll remind … Continue reading Maybe the bones aren’t so good after all
poetry
May the meek get unmeek
President* Trump, The poem-a-day poem in my inbox this morning is by Rena Priest and it’s called The Index and it feels solidly apropos this morning (https://poets.org/poem/index-0?mc_cid=091f8058c4&mc_eid=03fcdf422b). Priest riffs on the idea that “the meek shall inherit the earth” was an agreed upon promise early in our human story. She goes on to see/imagine it … Continue reading May the meek get unmeek
Some Time ~ a haiku
President* Trump, Well, it was hard to sleep last night. I think our oldest dog got the anxiety memo; she needed to go out three times last night. I was on dog-let-out-duty so between her bathroom needs and my own, not much sleep happened. Subsequently, for now, all I can manage is a haiku for … Continue reading Some Time ~ a haiku
The ends and the means
President* Trump, Yesterday morning when I set out on my walk I didn’t have anything specific in mind to write to you about. I figured something would occur to me in my perusal of the news or in reaction to the day’s poem (which, by the way was incredible and can be read here: https://poets.org/poem/five-horses-doctor-ramon-emeterio-betances?mc_cid=2d4fec3e74&mc_eid=03fcdf422b). … Continue reading The ends and the means
Way off the beaten path and into the wilds (vicariously)
President* Trump, I’m sure this isn’t going to surprise you at all, but I won’t be tuning into your nihilistic hate-fest this week. There will be plenty of updates about it and at times it’ll feel as though I went ahead and subjected myself to the negative frenzy, but even in the name of research … Continue reading Way off the beaten path and into the wilds (vicariously)
Every single day
President* Trump, Do you think your installers had any earthly idea how much damage you were capable of inflicting on the US and on the world? Did they dispassionately study you, your hench-people, your business practices, your success/fail rate and conclude – “Damn, here’s our guy, if we just let him do his thing, he’ll … Continue reading Every single day
Better yet, let’s declare interdependence
President* Trump, I know you don’t see the titles I come up with for these letters so I’ll tell you that yesterday’s title was “Declaring independence.” It was a reasonable fit for the gist of the letter and reflected my strong belief that it’s high time we throw off our government since it still privileges … Continue reading Better yet, let’s declare interdependence
A haiku for Charlena
President* Trump, This evening Laura and I marched in the arm of the BLM protest here that originated at Magnuson Park in honor of Charlena Lyles, the Seattle resident who was four months pregnant when she was shot seven times by SPD three years ago in her home. I have no idea how many people … Continue reading A haiku for Charlena
Strong medicine
Dear President Trump, The graphic accompanying the WP’s lead story this morning announcing that the official US number of covid-19 deaths passed 100,000 yesterday isn’t the gut punch that the NYT’s Sunday cover was, but it’s still quite moving. The idea that each person’s death is marked by a point of light on the map … Continue reading Strong medicine
“Fixing” curves and bringing history into focus
Dear President Trump, This morning I had nada for you. All I could muster was the date and the salutation – I was so blank I thought I’d probably end up just writing a haiku. Well, you’re in luck because that was the then but now I have not one thing to tell you about, … Continue reading “Fixing” curves and bringing history into focus
Daily Trump Letters 