Clay Thistleton

WHERE DONALD J. TRUMP HAS BEEN JUMPING THE SHARK

storming the Capitol for a Facebook-tagged selfie
live-streaming on Insta in a bison-horned helmet
Rambos in the Senate cosplay with their zip cuffs

when in insurrection please do not touch the statues
where Donald J. Trump has been jumping the shark
the flayed skin of democracy as a casual jacket

a mortal last stand in the crush at the Speaker’s Lobby
a star-spangled thread count in Brian Sicknick’s lifeblood
the teargas hangs heavy with airborne diseases


Gerald So's YouTube video reading of "Where Donald J. Trump..."



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Clay confesses: "As a long-time student and an occasional teacher of American literature I was emotionally affected by the events at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. The U.S. is not just a country, it is a grand, shining idea and it was that idea under attack that day."


CLAY THISTLETON has taught creative writing and literary studies in universities, community colleges and not-for-profit organisations for over two decades. He is the author of Noisesome Ghosts (Blart Books, 2018): an Elgin Award-nominated collection of found poetry that investigates the phenomenon of ghosts and poltergeists that have the ability to speak or write. His current project, ‘Never Mind the Saucers’ (Stranger Press, forthcoming), examines documented instances of alien-human sexual contact. Along with his son Dylan, Clay lives in New South Wales, Australia with a fluctuating number of feral cats.