DonaldMandias

The ridiculous statue of Donald Trump showcased this weekend at CPAC reminds me of Percy Bysshe Shelley's sonnet "Ozymandias," written in 1817.  Using the image of the decaying statue of Ramses II, Shelley reflects on the transience of political power and of those whose hubris governs their actions.  As the statue of Ozymandias fades under the Egyptian sun, the sand and wind take over, and nothing remains of the former tyrant.

Here's a revised version of Shelley's sonnet:

I met a traveller from the USA
Who said: "Two vast and Trumpless legs of chrome
Stand in the desert . . . Near them on the sand
Half sunk, a shattered orange face lies, whose vain
And vulgar mien, and sneer of cold command,
Tell of his heartless deeds and hateful ways
Which yet survive, stamped on this tasteless mold
Of glitz and gold.

Image by Miranda Straubel

And on his flip-flopped feet these words appear:
'My name is DonaldMandias, a very stable genius,
The best of all that's ever been!'
Now nothing else of Trump remains.
This gaudy wreck, this statue gone,
While lone and level sands stretch far away."