“I Beg My Mom Not to Vote for Trump,” Poem, Molly McNew

Image: “Three Flags,” Jasper Johns, 1958.

I tell her she can lie to her husband —

just say it first, before being asked.

Tell a white lie as simple as

     I love making you dinner every night

to keep the peace. It’s political.

It’s critical.

I ask her to do it for me.

Let me be reason enough.

Molly McNew has wanted to be a writer since her 4th grade teacher claimed her short story about Paddington Bear was plagiarized (it wasn't). A working mom based in St. Louis, Molly writes poems and her current novel in the margins of her day.