Poetry

AFP photo

By

Alejandro Escudé

Among the Oligarchs

I wonder: would I be able to survive

an early morning raid in my home?

What exactly does a lobbyist do anyhow?

And aren’t we, in some way, lobbying

for something all the time? Tonight,

I alerted my wife that I wanted more time

with her, that we’re involved in too much

and that she doesn’t need to attend

anymore parent meetings at our kids’

school that all those people do is discuss

banalities—that was too Russian of me,

to bully her into obeying though I had

no leverage, no debt to be repaid.

How do you stay sane Paul Manafort?

Your surname better suited to a class

of military ocean vessel than a man.

You just seem so composed, as if the life

of a traitor were simple. What is a traitor

anyway ? A twitter handle? A hockey player?

A can of caviar? The same footage of you

on the news like a GIF, that Easter Island

moai head of yours, and that curious little

athlete’s breath you take, the same breath

I often take at work. Maybe my life too

is conspiratorial, part of a larger scheme

in which I maintain secret contact

with a Russian agent whom I consider

a friend and ally. And I’ve also asked,

repeatedly, that necessary question

“How do we use [this] to get whole?’

Alejandro Escudé

Alejandro Escudé’s first book of poems, My Earthbound Eye, was published in September 2013. He holds a master’s degree in creative writing from UC Davis and teaches English. Originally from Argentina, Alejandro lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.