Robert Sears - The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump

The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump Created by Rob Sears CANONGATE Published in Great Britain in 2017 by Canongate Books Ltd,
14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE canongate.co.uk This digital edition first published in 2017 by Canongate Books Copyright Rob Sears, 2017 The moral right of the author has been asserted British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library ISBN 978 1 78689 227 0
eISBN 978 1 78689 229 4 Cover concept by Rob Sears
Initial page design by Paula Amaral Typeset in Minion Pro by Palimpsest Book Production Ltd,
Falkirk, Stirlingshire Inaugural address in Washington, DC, as the 45th President of the United States, 20 January 2017 People of the world, thank you Contents Editors notes It is a little known alternative fact that the 45th President, Donald J. Trump, has long been a remarkable poet. This book aims to redress this oversight on the part of the literary world, and showcase his finest and most revealing words in a previously unseen form. Whether discoursing on politics, walls, gender issues or his own excellent genes, Trumps poems are nothing if not beautiful. Terrific, in fact. Amazing.

And they reveal a sensitive and shyly artistic side to Trump that may prompt a reappraisal of the man even among his critics. One of the many charges levelled at Donald Trump by those in the fake news media is that his use of English is lazily repetitive, perhaps indicating a dunderheaded and unimaginative thinker. But consider works like My two favorite words (p. 117). Repetitious yes, but to deliberate, mesmerising effect. 45); beautiful twelve times in A beautiful, simple life (p. 3). 3).

This is not the work of a monotonous man, but an aesthete for whom love and beauty are wells of feeling to return to and draw from. There is a rebuttal here too to the charge that Trumps rambling public speaking style evidences a disordered brain. Slowly the hair dries, I am open-minded, Get ready for some excitement and Fake news, folks (pp. 53, 55, 95 and 61) display the precision and concentrated brevity of a modern-day Basho or Larkin. Then there are the Trump Haikus (Little Marco, Sad sack Rosie, Lyin Ted, Crazy Megyn Kelly, Crooked Hillary, Low energy Jeb, Deviant Anthony Weiner, Dopey Lord Sugar, Barack Hussein Obama (aka Barry Soetoro), Wacko Glenn Beck, President Putin, Failing comedian Bill Maher, Goofy Elizabeth Warren and Very foul-mouthed Sen. 49, 81, 47, 75, 25, 99, 13, 39, 9, 63, 33, 109, 43 and 93). 49, 81, 47, 75, 25, 99, 13, 39, 9, 63, 33, 109, 43 and 93).

All are in formal 5-7-5 meter. All hit their targets like laser-guided Paveway missiles testimony to a writer of supreme discipline and power. On a superficial reading of some of the poems, critics may hear only the voice of the Trump they think they know. Photographic memory, I have the best words, Good genes, Im really rich, Bad Hombres and I am the most fabulous whiner (pp. 87, 111, 91, 5, 31 and 17) are bracingly braggadocious. in a white-hot rage to gouge them into Mar-a-Lago letterpaper (see These people are losers, This country is going to hell in a handbasket, Pervert alert, Does torture work?, Get the oil, get the oil, get the oil, No days off and Weve got to stop the stupid (pp. 37, 7, 77, 59, 69, 83 and 65). 37, 7, 77, 59, 69, 83 and 65).

But there is more here than technique and combative spirit. If we allow ourselves to listen, we can also hear the counterpoint of a quieter, less self-assured Trump, as when he breaks off his list of boasts in I am the best (p. 23) to worry about the size of his appendages. Trump fully exposes his vulnerable underbelly in the poems I want to be good, Whats going on? Whats going on?, and the ironic I won! (pp. 101, 119 and 19). Here we get a glimpse of real tragedy a man born to win coming to terms with his awareness of his own failings and it is hard to come away unmoved.

Yet he never succumbs to self-obsession. In All I ask is fairness, Very dishonest media, My hands are normal hands, Look at the way Ive been treated lately and I am the least racist person there is (pp. 35, 57, 103, 115 and 11), it is the injustice of a broken system and the effect of biased journalism on his country that drives Trump to verse. A dream, I love to read and I dont know (pp. 113, 107 and 121) explore the innermost and least mapped parts of Trumps psyche. 97) marks a foray into metaphysical poetry; in effect, it is a love letter to the entire universe. 97) marks a foray into metaphysical poetry; in effect, it is a love letter to the entire universe.

Although Melania Trump is, interestingly, not mentioned in any of the poems, we can also see Trumps more traditional romantic persona rising to the fore in poems such as Hot little girl in high school (p. 67), and Look at this baby (p. 51) while two further poems comment wryly on the issue of gender relations, something Trump perhaps understands better than he lets on (I respect women, I love women, I cherish women and Women have one of the great acts of all time pp. 41 and 79). The greatest misapprehension about DJT corrected by this volume, however, may be the idea that he sees money and power as ends in themselves. In fact, just as Wilfred Owen turned his wartime experience into poetry, and Sylvia Plath found the dark beauty in her own depression, Trump is able to transform his unique experiences of being a winner into 24-karat verse.

He didnt build a huge real-estate empire for the billions; he did it so he could write poems like Treat yourself to the very, very best life has to offer and We are going to have to get rid of them (pp. 71 and 27). He didnt go to Washington to be feared; he did it so he could alchemise his experiences into the poems MAGA!, Theres something going on that we dont know about, I make this promise, You can do anything and We have by far the highest IQ of any Cabinet ever assembled (pp. 15, 85, 21, 73 and 29). And for his verse, he is prepared to risk everything quite literally, the Earth (see Well be fine with the environment and Pittsburgh, not Paris pp. 89 and 105).

For readers who have trouble enjoying Trumps poems because of their pre-existing views of his politics, one poem in particular, the Whitmanesque You have to be everything (p. 123), is key. Here Trump advances a sophisticated theory of identity. He posits that we each contain many overlapping selves, each enacting different, sometimes contradictory performative roles. This helps us see how Trump the President can coexist with Trump the CEO, Trump the TV Mogul, Trump the Family Man and Trump the Poet. N.B. N.B.

To ensure the poems clarity of meaning, the Editor has changed references to peoples Twitter handles to their names, eliminated hashtags, has on occasion reduced words in all capitals to lower case, and, where aesthetically appropriate, removed the occasional exclamation point and changed ampersands to and. Rob Sears, 2017 The Poems Happening Now, 12 October 2016 With All Due Respect, MSNBC, 29 March 2016 Remarks from the USS Gerald R. Ford in Virginia, 17 December 2016 Remarks at the Congressional Republican Retreat in Philadelphia, 26 January 2017 Anderson Cooper 360, CNN, 5 July 2016 Campaign rally in Muscatine, Iowa, CSPAN, 25 January 2016 Tweet promoting Miss Universe Pageant, 7 December 2012 Key Capitol Hill hearings, CSPAN, 27 February 2015 The OReilly Factor, Fox News, 28 April 2016 National Press Club luncheon, CSPAN, 31 May 2014 Hannity, Fox News, 15 July 2015 Hannity, Fox News, 15 August 2015 Hotel opening, CSPAN, 27 October 2016 Beautiful bikes Beautiful aircraft carriers Beautiful coal Beautiful lie by Crooked Hillary Beautiful hats Beautiful women Beautiful tanks Beautiful Humvees Beautiful copper piping Beautiful auto plant Beautiful marines Ive never seen scissors that look this beautiful before Presidential bid announcement at Trump Tower, 16 June 2015 Tweet promoting his Elmsford crystal collection, 13 September 2011 Interview with