Give Love a Good Name

Hillary Clinton
is now officially

the Democratic nominee.

And one of the speakers
at the convention

was the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II

someone from this poet's home state
of North Carolina

who represented
the anti-HB2 antibodies

still coursing through the blood of the state

and who preached even
to the non-believers

an inclusive message of defibrillation.

"We must shock this nation
with the power of love.

We must shock this nation
with the power of mercy.

We must shock this nation
and fight for justice for all.

We can’t give up on
the heart of our democracy

not now
not ever!".


This poem © 2016 Emily Cooper.

Trump Training

It's sadly too late
for the Trump Train

to make another stop
at Michelle Obama's Quotable Brilliance Depot

but she definitely
waved to the Republican candidate

as he passed.

She described how she and Barack

have instilled in their daughters
"that when someone is cruel

or acts like a bully
you don’t stoop to their level.

No our motto is
when they go low
we go high."

And still
without naming names

she slung her arrows
through the candidate's favorite platform
when she said

"The issues a president faces
are not black and white
and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters."

That would be a revelation

if only Donald Trump
ever took a single moment

to stop reveling in himself.


This poem © 2016 Emily Cooper.

Notrump Contract

The bridge to our future.

Notrump.


This poem © 2016 Emily Cooper.

The Hill of Blights

Donald Trump's wife Melania's speech

may have been
meaning most definitely

was plagiarized from a 2008 speech
given by Michelle Obama

otherwise known
in GOP circles
as the six-foot-tall Satanic she-Devil

who wields a certain kind of power
even greater than her husband's

because in addition
to telling the truth about her own life in America
the good and the bad

she wears dresses
that show off her arms

and makes kids exercise
and eat their veggies.

And so yesterday Chris Christie

took it upon himself
to turn the tides away
from the incident

and to crowdsource the audience

by simulating a courtroom
in which he was the judge

and the attendees were the jury
judging Hillary Clinton "guilty"

for each of a series
of policy decisions

as though each were a crime

thus bringing to life
the wholly-original-to-the-GOP turn of phrase

"Lock her up!"

Well done Christie.

Sadly it might even be too original
for that oppressive set of ideals

called American democracy.

This poem © 2016 Emily Cooper.

The Un-Convention

On the eve
of the GOP convention

we know that the speaker list
consists of in part

Donald Trump's four children
and his wife Melania

professional golfer Natalie Gulbis

and former Calvin Klein underwear model
Antonio Sabato Jr.

The other presenters

meaning the ones
who have not yet declined the invitation

in large part
are uncharismatic
and more traditionally mean-spirited Congresspeople

who have nonetheless
been derided by Trump himself
in such a way

that even more left-leaning people
will feel a pang of sympathy for them.

Attendees can expect

that Trump will spend the first night

after years of investigations
giving them the definitive answer
on the Benghazi incident

then the second night
discussing everything Trump knows
about the economy

the third night
pressuring Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence
to think of anything good to say about Trump

and the fourth night
embarrassing the openly gay Silicon Valley billionaire
Peter Thiel

by making him speak
to a party adopting homophobia and transphobia

as one of the planks
on their platform.

There will also be a presentation

detailing former President Bill Clinton's
sexual misconduct

about which of course
nothing has ever been said.

And no one

not the celebrities
not the politicians

not the delegates
not the family relations

and probably
not even the guest of honor

will really
want to be there.


This poem © 2016 Emily Cooper.

Trumper Sticker

Donald Trump
has made an offer

for the role of Vice President

to Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

And together

as this poet hopes
will appear
on the inevitable bumper sticker

these two candidates

will Trump any semblance
of Pence-iveness in government.

This poem © 2016 Emily Cooper.

Trumped by His Own Petard

In 2008
on Donald Trump's syndicated minute-long
radio show feature "Trumped!"

for which he gave his opinions

against tattoos

in favor of Michael Jackson's innocence

and critical of Saudi Arabian
easy divorce laws
and female pop stars getting married

for example

he said "At least one member
of [Mr. Obama’s] team
said Clinton would make a good vice president.

Well I know her
and she’d make a good president
or a good vice president.”

This poem © 2016 Emily Cooper.

Not Even Fox-Worthy

To borrow from Jeff Foxworthy
of Blue Collar Comedy

if after a yearlong pointlessly incendiary
and somehow increasingly unhinged
and ignorant campaign

you stroll into Congress

for a meet-and-greet
with Republicans

get asked about protecting Article I
of the Constitution

and respond by listing numbers
until you name the non-existent
"Article XII"

tell the other Arizona senator Jeff Flake
who was not taken
as a POW

and is unwilling to support you
because of your comments
about a Hispanic judge

and is actually not up
for re-election

that you will make sure
the senator loses his election bid

and call absent senator
Mark Kirk a "loser"

you might be Donald Trump.

This poem © 2016 Emily Cooper.

Recommit to Freedom

Happy belated birthday

to oldest Obama daughter Malia

who yesterday turned 18

and celebrated her independence

along with that of the country
over which
her father presides

though likely shortly into the festivities
Malia undoubtedly realized
she was more mature

than much of Congress.

This poem © 2016 Emily Cooper.

Conspiring to Defeat Justice

Goodbye to Holocaust survivor
and Nobel Laureate

Elie Wiesel

who has died
at age 87.

And Donald Trump
has unfortunately backpedaled

on this lovely coincidental commemoration

that occurred
when he Tweeted an image

featuring Hillary Clinton's head
overlaying a pile of money

with the words
"Most Corrupt Candidate Ever"
written on a Star of David

then quickly replacing it
with a circle.

Trump has obviously chosen to forget

that the presidential race's
one actually Jewish candidate

would rather break apart the banks.

This poem © 2016 Emily Cooper.