Patricia Spears Jones
The Widow Trump
The ride was not smooth, not as smooth as my skin
Eating the cells of dried placenta removes wrinkles
Best not to share that with Americans, they cringe
When the fog snags highways and makes blindness
Possible.
I have all my volatile gestures caged. It is enough
That the offshore accounts provide suitable funds.
My girlfriends warned me to be vigilant of risky
Investments, to stick to my gun(s) or did they mean
Gums?
However the thrust of history marks me, my name
Is connected to a most powerful man. Dreadful
Was he, but husband to me. Now his large body
Small heart, and mildly pleasing genitals are formally
Coffined.
The relief of these days, the occasional event
Where I lift my modulated voice in support of senatorial
Candidates—the newest bullies–allows for a frisson of celebrity
—-just enough
To garner sympathy and lucrative podcast deals that
Better best
So many wanted me to legally separate, but I was younger
Why bother—widowhood is as perfect as my hair.
—Submitted on 01/06/2021
Patricia Spears Jones is the author of A Lucent Fire: New and Selected Poems (White Pine Press, 2015) and seven other collections. Her plays, commissioned by Mabou Mines, were presented in New York City. Winner of the 2017 Jackson Poetry Prize from Poets & Writers, Spears Jones has also received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the NY Community Trust, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. psjones.com.
SUBMIT to Transition: Poems in the Afterglow via our SUBMITTABLE site.
If you enjoyed today’s poem and you value Poems in the Afterglow, consider making a donation to Indolent Books, a nonprofit poetry press.
