The Gilded Cage

Dancing and prancing naked,

living in a gilded cage,

the little Emperor bird

sings his own praise.

Everything is golden, 

even the feathers on his sleeve,

as he makes proclamations

that even he cannot believe.

With a chirp, chirp, chirp

that ignores teleprompters,

he denies SNAP benefits,

and deports your neighbors.

He posts from a marble bath

as he hides like a coward

but unleashes his wrath

because he is hungry for power.

He spouts seductive bigotry

that eats away at the truth

with the accuracy of ChatGPT

and without the burden of proof.

He cries out “fake news!” 

at things you can clearly see

while stealing hard-earned money

with another tax or a tariff fee.

Yes, the little bird can sing

but must we lose everything?

Kevin R. Pennington is a disabled poet living in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Pennington is a mythopoeic poet who is interested in the juncture of technology, science, pop culture, and epics. Pennington is published in numerous journals including Sensitive Skin, Alien Buddha Press zines, and The Rust Belt Press. Pennington is the author of one the poetry book, Spacetime Nirvana (Alien Buddha Press). Pennington is a former contributing editor of the blog the Sunflower Collective.