Nine solo meetings in three months
with the third president you’ve served under.
Only two in eight years
with the last,
one to discuss policy and
one to say goodbye.
But this one—
nine meetings alone
to discuss his scandals
and the poor choice
of minions tarred
with another country’s brush.
Over a dinner,
where you thought
there would be others,
the Liar in Chief says
he hopes
you can let this one go
the way Henry
wished aloud he could be rid
of his friend and
political adversary, that he
would stop being such a thorn,
an obstruction to his policies,
a cloud impeding his reign.
You begin to document your meetings then.
Kings and CEOs expect
to get what they want
and not always directly, by
Executive Order.
But the death of Justice
is no better a deed than
a murder in a cathedral.
There will be no martyrs
this time.
–June 8, 2017, Harlem
