by Cody Walker

(with apologies to Elizabeth Bishop)

The art of losing isn’t hard, McMaster;
so many Trump picks seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Someone’s gone every day. First came the ouster
of Michael Flynn, his rubles badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard, McMaster.

Since then we’ve just lost farther, ever faster:
Spicer, Priebus, the Scaramucci gent,
and Bannon. None of these have brought disaster.

We lost Sebastian Gorka. And look! the last, or
next-to-last, of three lead counsels went.
The art of losing isn’t hard, McMaster.

We lost two sweethearts: Porter, Hicks. And, blaster
drawn, Rex Tillerson. (That guy can vent!)
We miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

—Even losing you (the shiny head, that tonsure
we love) we shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard, McMaster,
though it may look like (Bolton?!) like disaster.