NVN Friday: ✝️he Why$… in 2 Poems

“It’s the Economy, Stupid” by Phyllis Frakt and “Ode to a MAGA Future” by Peter Witt

IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID

by Phyllis Frakt

Millions out of work, bellies empty.
Penniless war veterans in rags.
Men out on streets sell apples
or wait in line for bread
as the president’s limo sweeps by.
The ins go out, the outs come in.
It’s always the economy.
 
Always, ever, and now
 
Prices ease down, growth up,
while demagogues drone
down is up, up way down.
Voters wait in line to decide.
It’s still the economy.
But which one do they buy—
the real one or the lie?

*

Phyllis Frakt writes poetry in New Jersey. She has published three poems in Worksheets. Her previous poems in The New Verse News are "Teach to the Test," "Caught in Between," "Not in Our Star...," "Believing is Seeing," and "The Original Truman

*

ODE TO A MAGA FUTURE

by Peter Witt

AI-generated graphic by Shutterstock for The New Verse News.

*

I don't care if 
Ukraine ends up a satellite of Russia
Israel annexes all Palestinian lands
Poland goes the way of Ukraine
NATO goes defunct

as long as egg prices go down.

I don't care if 
all judges are Trump appointees
gay marriage is outlawed
trans individuals are discriminated against
raped women must still have their babies

as long as bread prices go down

I don't care if
rich people get huge tax breaks
oil and gas wells are drilled on pristine national lands
regulations allow polluting rivers and waterways
steps to reduce climate change are abandoned

as long as the cost of a gallon of gas goes down

I don't care if
things I buy that are made in China become more expensive
illegal immigrants are rounded up and sent home
people to harvest the nation's crops become scarce
workers who build housing and infrastructure disappear

as long as Christian nationalism becomes the law of the land

*

Peter Witt is a Texas poet, a frequent contributor to The New Verse News and other online poetry web-based publications.