books burn slowly
fred smock purports
can’t say i’ve ever tried
though i’ve come close
that’s sure, like the time
we vowed to burn algebra one
workbooks at an end-of-the-year
bonfire in high school

though the class was inane
(the teacher more so)
i’m glad we refrained
setting fire to texts—even
poorly-written, poorly-researched
even completely (politically) incorrect
books—it could be a slippery slope

not that we’d want to read, teach
such tomes earnestly, not that we’d
dare value idiocracy but
we can’t forget stupidity
lest it repeat itself

so while i’d like to immolate
the art of the deal
surviving at the top
the art of the comeback
the america we deserve
the best golf advice i ever received
why we want you to be rich
how to build a fortune
trump 101 (a trump university text)
never give up
think like a champion
time to get tough
midas touch
trump tower, and
crippled america

i’ll conserve resources
treat them as another kind of fuel
to get my blood boiling, popping
splattering onto the page
who needs ghostwriters
when you have white phosphorus
rolling through your veins