What Rhymes with Trump

Dump:
A site for unrecyclable
garbage, waste, and refuse,
as well as dead philosophies
and unvarnished untruths.

Hump:
When filled up with water,
a bucket atop a camel’s back;
when done to a country,
a soulless and forceful sexual act.

Lump:
A growth you hope is benign
when found on a lung or inside a breast,
a clump that forms in your throat
when loved ones are needlessly laid to rest.

Pump:
A useful tool
when draining a bog;
A useless toy
when hopelessly clogged.

Rump:
When roasted with garlic,
a thing of bliss;
exposed to enablers,
something to kiss.

Sump:
A reservoir
of aqueous blight;
when left unpumped,
a toxic site

Slump:
Illegal or not
The new tariffs are imposed;
The president golfs,
An economy implodes.

Trump:
When filling a hand,
a weapon of power and awe;
not worthy nor just,
but rather the luck of the draw.

Dump (again):
A place to deposit
all of his trash;
where history’s sure to
dump him at last.

J. Weintraub has published fiction, essays, and poetry in many literary places, from Massachusetts Review to New Criterion, from Prairie Schoonerto the The Dark City. A member of the Dramatists Guild, he has had over 50 dramatic performances produced throughout the USA and internationally. As a translator he has introduced the Italian horror writers, Nicola Lombardi and Davide Staffiero, to speakers of English, and his edition of Lombardi’s The Gypsy Spiders and Other Tales of Italian Horror was published by the UK’s Tartarus Press (2021). His annotated translation of Eugène Briffault’s Paris à table: 1846 (2018) is available from Oxford UP. Read other articles by J., or visit J.'s website.