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Letter to America by Vince Gotera

One Poem

Riddle: 14 Donalds

To begin, we, sputtering, duck.
With a little bit rock and roll. 
Took his Chevy to the levee.
Train with a whole lot of soul. 

Scowling with sour pickles. 
Presiding evil in a hungry land. 
Copping out in neon Miami. 
Soaring like a bird in a band. 

Read his poems out in the hall.
Read his story to white noise. 
Sputtering again like a deputy. 
In Miami once more, won twice. 

In the rainsong, least of the three.
In the wash, who’s despicable me?

 

 

Answer: 14 Donalds

Donald Duck
Donnie Osmond
Don McLean
Don Cornelius

Don Rickles
Donald Sutherland
Don Johnson
Donald Byrd

Donald Hall
Don DeLillo
Don Knotts
Don Shula

Donald O’Connor
Donald Trump

 

 

Vince GoteraVince Gotera is a professor of English at the University of Northern Iowa, where he served as editor of the North American Review from 2000 to 2016. He is the editor of Star*Line, the print journal of the international Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association. His poetry collections include Dragonfly, Ghost Wars, Fighting Kite, and the upcoming Pacific Crossing. Recent poems may be found in The American Journal of Poetry, Parody Poetry Journal, Eunoia Review, and Silver Birch Press. He blogs at The Man with the Blue Guitar.

Header photo of Donald Duck figurine by Tony Takitani, courtesy Flickr.