No prior Prez has smuggled docs,
concealed in boxes among his junk,
containing so much secret stuff,
and now they’re seized, he’s in a funk.
He claims the docs belong to him,
but that is not at all the case.
They are our country’s greatest secrets,
and if they’re lost, can’t be replaced.
The intel guys have raised some hell
as they assess the damage wrought,
to sources, methods, and our safety,
even though the thief’s been caught.
The Prez claims he declassified,
but no one is aware of that.
He cannot simply wave a wand—
his old AG says that is crap.
The docs could help him write a memoir—
nuclear secrets would add some spice—
and offering them to foreign agents
could get the Prez a quite nice price.
So now it’s in the hands of Garland,
who must find out which docs are gone,
and if they’ve vanished to distant lands,
and what, if anything, will be done.
The special counsel who will assist
is quite the bulldog, everyone says.
So all will wait for the unknown outcome
to see if he indicts the ex-Prez.
About the Poem
The satirical rhyming couplets of “Empty Folders” underplay the seriousness of former President Trump’s offense. As a former career intelligence officer, I consider the breach reprehensible, despite my light-hearted verse.
About the Author
Anne Gruner is a former CIA intelligence analyst whose poetry has appeared in “Beltway Poetry Quarterly,” “Plum Tree Tavern,” “Jalmurra,” “Written Tales,” “Spillwords,” “Superpresent Magazine,” “Old Mountain Press” anthology, and includes a prize-winning poem in “Humans of the World,” and forthcoming work in the “Take 5ive Journal” and “Amsterdam Quarterly.” She is working on her debut poetry collection. She lives in McLean, Virginia with her husband and two golden retrievers. https://www.annegruner.com/