The Art of Misdirection

It’s a sleight of hand. A trick.
Misdirect the audience’s attention.
He’s on Air Force One. Pull down the shades,
What you can’t see, doesn’t exist.
We saw him board, wave goodbye to NATO, to the world.
Our eyes were wide open. We know what we saw.

Enter the gimmick—the altered prop.
A catering truck hidden from the crowd.
He vanishes.
Because he is a “consequential President.”
Does he know what consequential means?
Does it mean hated?
Just look at his polling numbers. Low, low, lower…

Those Iranians can’t keep up with his magic routine!
Fooled again by the compliant performer feeding us the patter:
“I get a lot of threats”
“I have to go by Secret Service…I just do what they say.”

Not the Director.  Not the Magician. Just the object.
Like making a snake disappear.
And then…
There it is.
Again. And again. And again.

It’s just an illusion. Not real.
Reset. Start again.
Same audience. New trick.

Celeste DeSario taught English at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood, New York for 37 years, earning teaching honors from both SUNY and the University of Texas. Now focusing entirely on creative writing, she enjoys breaking down big political illusions while also writing about personal grit and artistic passion. Her recent work appears in The New Verse News, The Changing Times, The SportScribe, and The Ekphrastic Review. This portfolio includes sharp political satires like “There are Monsters Under My Bed”, "I’m the MAGA Dream Girl" and "The Peeling of American Flag Blue," alongside reflective pieces like "Bridging and Grappling," "A Leap of Affirmation," and "Gaudi's Unbending Vision." She can be reached at: celeste.desario8@gmail.com. Read other articles by Celeste.