ON THE DEATH OF CHARLIE KIRK

First all flags were ordered to half-staff

to honor the dead racist, homophobic, 

gun fetishist. Then it was announced 

that he will be awarded a Presidential

Medal of Freedom, posthumously, of

course. That way he and Rush can gloat

together in hell over their patriotic awards.

What’s next? A national holiday?

I’ll bet now we won’t have too many

Anymore, they’ll squeeze one more in,

To honor the fascist recruiter. Or maybe

they will just replace MLK day, changing 

King to Kirk should be easy for them.

WHEN IDLE

When not constructively occupied,

My mind wanders into strange lands,

Territories of speculation. I wonder:

Would the catheter on a Fremen 

Stillsuit be a distracting annoyance?

Or would it feel good? There has to

Be one of some kind, catching urine

To convert to drinking water. Might it

Stimulate him when a man moved

Around? Walking or running? 

Would it be possible to orgasm 

With it, in the middle of battle, 

Without anyone else knowing

What was going on? Imagine 

Plunging your sword deep into a 

Harkonen traitor just as you cum.

Such satisfactions are truly rare.

TOO NICE

They were too nice to him,

Those men in Washington,

They gave him too much leeway,

Mumbling about evidence and

Proof when we all knew what

He’d done and why he did it,

And he knew that we all knew

And that nothing would happen

To him because we believe in

Being fair, fighting fair, second

Chances, but he doesn’t believe in

Any of that, which never stops

Him from taking advantage of our

Belief. He counts on our sense of

Justice to keep him free after that

Clumsy, failed coup d’état, which

Would have gotten him jailed, if

Not summarily executed, in many

Other countries. But not here, 

Because we believe in forgiveness,

The essential goodness of people, as

Mencius espoused, in spite of such

Glaring evidence to the contrary. But

He believes in nothing, he has no 

Philosophy, no ethics, no morals,

No conscience, while we do, or we 

Try to, so he knows he can do what

He wants because we are not like him

And he depends on that difference

To save his ass from the gallows.

REMEMBERING JANUARY 6

After refusing to concede the election, he sent his

followers to take over the Capitol, then hid out

as they stormed it, trying to prevent congress from

certifying his loss, waves of them, some in costumes,

armed with makeshift weapons or guns scattered

among them, swastikas, stars and bars flying, pepper

spraying anyone in their way, forcing through 

fences, through lines of police, breaking windows

to violate the temple of democracy which they 

plundered like the common looters they were,

feral dogs shitting on congressional desks, floors 

all the while proudly filming it for social media.

We watched it happen, live, so did he from his

White House bunker, refusing to say anything,

refusing to do anything to try to stop it, hoping 

it would work out so he could remain in power.

When it didn’t work, we allowed him to walk free, 

after committing treason, sedition, insurrection, 

inciting violence against congress. So now he is 

back in power like never before; vicious, vengeful, 

turning everything meant to protect us, against us,

turning our Constitution inside out and upside down

while he seizes whatever he wants, punishes whoever

he wants, becomes the sort of dictator he admires.

And we have allowed him to do it because we never

believed he would/could do it: now he is doing it

and we, who have allowed it, must now live with it.

M.J.  Arcangelini, (b.1952, Pennsylvania) resides in northern California. He has published extensively in both print and online venues & over a dozen anthologies.  He is the author of 8 published collections, the most recent of which are the full-length PAWNING MY SINS, 2022 (Luchador Press), and the chapbooks FIERCE KISSES (Rebels & Squares Press) 2024 & HOOKING UP (Pure Sleaze Press, 2025). He has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.