by David Southward
President Putin
must be hootin��
tricked the Yanks to vote a brute in!
Tried some far-out
home computin�
to keep the stateside rowdies rootin�.
The guy�s too sly:
all smiles, refutin�
prissy liberals� highfalutin
complaints their voting wasn�t free.
Electoral integrity?
Just pretty words those Yanks look cute in.
How to keep
the troops salutin��
that�s a man�s concern, darn tootin�!
Roll up the shirtsleeves,
start recruitin�
loyal subjects; start transmutin�
this carved up world
to one more suitin�.
Invite your enemy
out shootin�. Tell him,
�I�ll drive from here. Now scoot in.�
Lead him on
like old Rasputin�
propaganda�s Isaac Newton�
with money pits
to stash his loot in.
Seal the bargain.
Plant your boot in.
David Southward teaches in the Honors College at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His poems have appeared most recently in Bramble, POEM, Measure, Verse-Virtual, and Unsplendid.