NEW SATIRE!

Apparently the inspiration came to the president at the campaign-style rally he held to mark his 100th day in office. 

Four days later, he called a press conference and declared that he had received a proclamation from On High. He had missed his true calling and needed to change course. He told the world that he had no choice but to accept this, regardless of the consequences. Then he tore off his suit jacket and red silk tie, unbuttoned his shirt almost to his navel (revealing several gold chains), picked up a florescent yellow electric guitar, planted his feet, strummed an F-chord, and began to bellow.

Some of his most rabid supporters were devastated and could barely contain their grief. They wore black, tore their sleeves, stopped washing their hair, and held “wakes” and “funerals,” including processions and mock obituaries. Some of them spread rumors on social media that the real president had been abducted, was being held captive in a South American prison, and had been replaced by a look-alike from the opposition party. Belief in that theory spread quite widely.

There were those who were secretly thrilled. A rock star, how awesome! They knew all along that he would conquer the world; music was a much more interesting weapon-of-domination than politics.

And some of us were just delighted at his abdication… at least at first, until we realized who would be stepping up into the role.

Cynthia Bernard is a woman in her early 70s, a long-time classroom teacher and an emerging writer of poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. Her writing has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including Multiplicity Magazine, Heimat Review, BULL, The Seattle Star, Piker Press, Antipodean SF, Medicine and Meaning, and Verse-Virtual. She was selected by Western Rivers Conservancy to serve as the Poet-Protector of Deer Creek Falls in the northern Sierra Nevada foothills.