On the Brink of Trumperica, I
America. Is. Back
southern magnolias
filtering the day's last light
the White House in shadow
the winter sun falls
from a darkening sky
the Truman Balcony
one old man walks out
another moves in with Money
Arctic blast
FYI: Among the [symbolically rich] trees on the White House Grounds, the oldest ones, southern magnolias, were planted by Andrew Jackson in 1829. And another southern magnolia was planted by Joe Biden in 2022.
Wikipedia, Truman Balcony: The Truman Balcony is the second-floor balcony of the Executive Residence of the White House, which overlooks the South Lawn. It was completed in March 1948, during the presidency of Harry S. Truman...In a September 2012 interview in Vanity Fair, President Barack Obama listed the balcony as his and his wife Michelle Obama's favorite spot in the White House.
And The New York Times, Jan. 20: A Trump Oligarchy Is Moving to Washington, and Buying Up Prime Addresses: Billionaires and multimillionaires are flocking to a city where power has been more important than money, but is now deeply intertwined with it.
This is a sequel to the following entries of Between Heaven and Hell:
Between Heaven and Hell, III
first visual magical realist tanka
USADecides:
TheSecondDumbing
theredhotheadline
morphsintomarching
phalanxafterphalanx
(FYI: For more examples, see "To the Lighthouse: Magical Realism in Times of Crises")
Between Heaven and Hell, XVII
Tanka Two of "Making America Trump Again"
once blood-stained
the Capitol's arched portal ...
in one day
the Convicted Felon will take
(the oath and) the Power
Between Heaven and Hell, XXI
the downward tilt
of his chin and forehead
and the knitted eyebrows ...
Convicted Felon's official portrait
[l]awfully like his mugshot
And This haiku sequence is the first entry of my new writing project, "On the Brink of Trumperica," a sequel to "Between Heaven and Hell"
All art has its share in truth insofar as it serves as a transcript of human suffering.
-- Theodor Adorno
And
A poem after a poem after a poem is POWER!
-- paraphrasing Margaret Atwood
Added: I just added one more fun haiku about this viral "air kiss" today:
Inauguration kiss
the distance between Trump
and Melania's lips
