La Calavera is a literary Mexican tradition and discipline from the post-1910 revolution years developed by journalist José Guadalupe Posada and also part of the Magical Realism movement. Artist and political activist Diego Rivera painted Calaveras to criticize the oligarchy’s abuse of power over the common workers and peasants. Here is my addition to that tradition:
LA CALAVERA DEL 2020
Please don’t push, my dear compadres
come on in and shut the door
I see you’re getting excited
grab a chair and sit on the floor
Sure, there’s cause for desperation
never you mind global warming
but it’s the 2020 election
what now looks more alarming
My dear mom used to say
“this is the last president”
that’s what’s keeping me awake
and glued on to CNN
Waiting for La Calavera
with her diabolic smile
walking in La Casa Blanca
and hear the words “you are fired”
He really has no idea
he’s knocking on the doors of hell
and that our friend Lady Death
is breathing on his redneck
You may want to ignore this fact
but in the last 179 years
eight presidents got evicted
before they finished their term
Some may say it’s only a legend
or nothing more than coincidence
but there’s a fifty – fifty chance
that Trump’s hours are numbered
For sure, this ain’t no lie
from 1840 to 1960
many presidents elected
at the end of a decade
Passed away while still in office
two of them from a disease
and four of them assassinated
how’s this for evidence;
William H Harrison,
elected in 1840
ended with defective lungs
after a short month in office.
Lincoln, our friend Abe
elected in 1860
he left the presidency
with a bullet in the head
Republican James Garfield
elected in 1880
he too succumbed to a bullet
so he left the house early
And then came William McKinley
elected in 1900
he too checked out early
with two bullets in is belly
Another Republican
Warren G. Harding
elected in 1920
died of a brain hemorrhage
And then Kennedy, alas
elected in 1960
you know what happened in Dallas
when he was touring with Jackie
And who can forget Reagan
elected in 1980
who broke the death spell
dodging an assassin’s attempt
Bush opened the millennium
with the 2000 election
by then the curse had passed over
so he got away with murder
You may wonder if it makes sense
forecasting a prediction
‘fact is that the next election
happens at the end of this decade
And before fake news comes to mind
I want you to keep this present
there was never such a thing
before we had a fake president
So here I sit in my corner
looking out for 20-20
and if by any remote chance
the trumpet gets re-elected
I’m keeping my fingers crossed
in case the curse may come back
we may see another eviction
in our beloved White house.
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