Artwork © Eric N. Peterson

I Don’t Want to Play “The Capitol” Edition of Clue™

January 14, 2021

Too many bodies
strewn about

Too many rooms
to comb through.

Too many pieces of evidence
splattered over the airwaves:

Hidden in plain sight–
like searching for Waldo

in a sea of MAGA hats,
uniforms – military and police,

good ole boys and lunatics,
Men in Black and Aliens,

and members of Congress
dressed to kill a Bill

Certifying the President-Elect was
elected by and for the people.

Elected by The People!

except for this motley crew
dressed like Blazing Saddle extras

signing up for Hedley Lamar’s army
of thugs, mugs, imbeciles, and traitors.

The movie ended with
cast and crew

spilling out of the set,
riding off into the sunset

and having a farewell beer.

But the Capitol Insurrection
is not some comedic set.

Though it covers the same
American History,

the outcome is anyone’s guess.

Jackie Oldham is a writer from Baltimore, Maryland, focused on poetry, essays, and short stories. Her poetry and essays appear mainly on her personal blog. She has read her work at Ikaros Restaurant, Baltimore, MD (2018 and 2019); Beth Am Synagogue Poetry Shabbat (2019 and 2020], for the Quintessential Listening: Poetry podcast (2019 and 2020), and the Black Poets Matter series, presented by Mad Mouth Poetry (available on Facebook). In 2020, two of her poems were published: “Golem Emet” and “Just Another Covid Saturday” [October 9, 2020, ]. Her first short story, “Age-isms,” was published in midnight & indigo, an online and print literary journal featuring Black Women (2019). She is retired from a career as a production copy editor and trainer for a firm (originally Waverly Press) that specialized in printing and publishing scientific and medical journals and books.

Eric N. Peterson is from Atlanta, Ga. He’s been drawing cartoons all his life. He leans towards the absurd, imaginative, and the surreal, as that’s where all the flavor is.