Zoot Suit

May 1, 2011

I’m in the kitchen with a bunch of secret service men and children. Barack and Michelle Obama enter, dressed for a state dinner.

Michelle wears a red gown, and Barack is in a longish blood-red coat and a matching fedora. Somehow his hair has grown to his shoulders.

Barack: Should I wear this coat to the party?

Me: yes.

But I think I’m hurting his feelings, so I change my mind and say why not?

Secretly I think the press will pillory him, just like Seth Myers ridiculed Trump’s fox pelt hair.

Barack to his daughter: What do you think? Should I wear this outfit?

Daughter whispers: no, and shakes her head.

Barack: I knew you’d tell me the truth! There’s no way I’m wearing this ridiculous get up.

Published by Christine

Christine Swint’s poems have appeared in Calyx, Birmingham Poetry Review, Slant, a Journal of Poetry, Tampa Review, Heron Tree, Ekphrasis, and others. Her poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best New Poets, and she has won first place prizes from the Georgia Poetry Society and Agnes Scott College. Her first collection, Swimming This, was published in 2015 by FutureCycle Press. She teaches first-year composition at a metro-Atlanta university and writes about poetry, art, hiking, and yoga at Balanced on the Edge, https://balancedonedge.blog Twitter @christine_swint View all posts by Christine