Poetry

Oli Goldsmith image

By

Alejandro Escudé

Slack

On the right-wing news channel

they urge viewers to cut the President slack

for his tough language. The banal

way the President talks; the lack of tack.

There’s an opinion for all, I guess.

Our zaniness is as varied as the stars.

Is it all just a disorderly game of chess?

A drunken competition of darts?

Beyond this, one child is rescued from mud

in Montecito. Each victim encased in the bog

like ancient people found in the cud

of the earth, a mother’s leg stiff as a log.

Somewhere—between the dish and the dirt

lies truth, sacred as a golden shirt.

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.