Thinking about not-thinking

A poem that is not about Trump

I’m thinking about war between dahlias and snails
and the noisiness of lettuce
and the indestructibility of doilies
thinking about the corkscrew penis of a duck
and the dizzying velocity of its sperm

I’m not thinking about Trump

I’m thinking about the hem
of my black and blue pants
I’m thinking about the verses in my head
and how they nestled in a clump
I’m thinking about fingers
that massage and tickle and drum
and pat
I’m not thinking about that

Thinking about the colours
of grazes and bruises
on children, the wetness
of weeping and blood

Thinking about the book that won’t be written
and tiny tomatoes on the windowsill

I’m not thinking about Trump

Thinking about my friends with cancer
and swimming and kittens
and patriotic semiotics
and peripatetic nemeses
and the masculine hegemony
and am I going to sneeze

Thinking about anything but Trump

— Rachel McAlpine