A (Third) Triptych of Poems in the Manner of Tom Jenks’ “Spruce” During the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic
(i) “The Trump Administration is a Superspreader”
face naked at a corona hoax party
in a negative pressure tent with some beautiful tests
in a bout of magical thinking by an open mass grave
at the anti-climb fencing of Sixteen Hundred Pennsylvania
the Trump administration is a superspreader
by the cough etiquette compromises on the South Lawn
the torn viral envelopes at the COVID toe pedicures
the Presidential Seals on the bottles of Adderall
the tears disenfranchised dissolve into air
(ii) “The Trump Administration Operates a Take-away Model”
doomscrolling with an adherent of droplet theory
sheltering in place at the wastewater survey
on the coronacoaster with Hydroxychloroquine
alternative facts ring-fenced at the White House
the Trump administration operates a take-away model
with pointed white hoods and some very fine people
at a post-truth troll farm in a deplorable state
with the demon sperm doctors and the alien pasta
the voter suppressed and their unheeded howl
(iii) “The Coronaphobias of the Maskhole-in-Chief”
stacking the Court in the name of the rabbit
a tweetstorm clatters the cages of children
the Oedipus Complex is on Air Force Two’s manifest
the OAN chyrons tout pandemic-chic influencers
the coronaphobias of the maskhole-in-chief
alternative Melanias at the ICE hysterectomies
the Twenty-fifth Amendment is unsheathed from its scabbard
Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the robes of a Jedi
sweeps coast to coast in a blue tumbling wave
Clay Thistleton has previously appeared at Unlikely Stories as a character in John Bryan's epic Love has been Liquidated. Clay has taught creative writing and literary studies in universities, community colleges and not-for-profit organisations for almost 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.
