“But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked”
– Bob Dylan, ‘It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)’
“INSPECTOR (drily): I don’t play golf.”
– J.B. Priestley, ‘An Inspector Calls’
Voluble passive-aggressive alpha-
sapiens ecce Midas-Ozymandias
entitlement’s lord how you grope
at gold gonads at stool A gaudy
pleasure-dome pavilion-screens your
every sybaritic urge At National Guard
rifle-point naked truth sells out her
integrity to your wholesale gratification
she’s becoming mendacity’s whore
Midas-eared you are massaged by
a sycophantic elite who butter your
immense ego at lubricious conclaves
fetishizing a personality-cult validate
your invalidity appraise your unworthi-
ness convincing you you’re infallible
Your blemishes projected onto your enemies
Your past sins sublimated into present virtues
Every uncouth whim satiated
Every wish-fulfilment acted upon
Each imbalanced desire made flesh
pleasured upon the gutted
altar of the Constitution
In your Xanadu amulet-spoils heave
inside lamé–kitsch trophy-cabinets
extracted from genuine attainers whose
finesse you clearly lack So you grift bargain
& monopolise a fascist smash-&-grab via
cheap slogans for complexity sensitivity
humanity compassion sincerity justice
intelligence the arts & democracy are clearly
beyond your ken penalised by your
rampant power-lust Fantasiser of Rushmore’s
chisel-coiffured profile outlasting all ear-
blooded assassination-attempts
In an antique canyon of chemical fallout
your incarnadine-gaping mouth’s petrified:
your hack-sculptor knew you far too well
.
Mark Wilson
Mark Wilson has published five poetry collections: Quartet For the End of Time (Editions du Zaporogue, 2011), Passio (Editions du Zaporogue, 2013), The Angel of History (Leaky Boot Press, 2013), Illuminations (Leaky Boot Press, 2016) & Paolo & Francesca in a Colder Climate (Black Herald Press, 2025). He is the author of a verse-drama, One Eucalyptus Seed, about the arrest and incarceration of Ezra Pound after World War Two, as well as a tragi-comedy, Arden. His poems and articles have appeared in: The Black Herald, The Shop, Tears in the Fence, 3:AM Magazine, Anvil Tongue, International Times, The Fiend, Syncopation, Epignosis Quarterly, Mande, Dodging the Rain, The Ekphrastic Review, Enheduanna, Rasputin and Le Zaporogue.