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Flatman: Poems of Protest in the Trump Era
Flatman follows the outrages of the Trump administration from September 2018 through May 2019, from his first playground taunts of ABC reporter Cecilia Vega through his helpful suggestions to water-bomb an 800-year old cathedral. Trump didn't just unleash a fatal virus on our country. Trump IS a fatal virus in our country. From "Flatman" to "The Parasite," this book chronicles the reign of a villain in villanelles--and other poetic forms.
42 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 5, 2020
4 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Cheryl Caesar
2 books5 followersCheryl Caesar lived in Paris, Tuscany and Sligo for 25 years; she earned her doctorate in comparative literature at the Sorbonne and taught literature and phonetics. She now teaches writing at Michigan State University.
She serves on the board of the Lansing Poetry Club. In 2019 she published over a hundred poems in the U.S., Germany, India, Bangladesh, Yemen and Zimbabwe, and won third prize in the Singapore Poetry Contest for her poem on global warming. In March 2020, she won the “any age” scholarship to the Fine Arts Writing Center workshop on social-justice writing, offered by Indolent Books, who publish the protest blog What Rough Beast. It’s to be held for a week in July 2021, in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and she hopes she can go. Since the shutdown began, she’s been giving online readings across the USA.
She serves on the board of the Lansing Poetry Club. In 2019 she published over a hundred poems in the U.S., Germany, India, Bangladesh, Yemen and Zimbabwe, and won third prize in the Singapore Poetry Contest for her poem on global warming. In March 2020, she won the “any age” scholarship to the Fine Arts Writing Center workshop on social-justice writing, offered by Indolent Books, who publish the protest blog What Rough Beast. It’s to be held for a week in July 2021, in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and she hopes she can go. Since the shutdown began, she’s been giving online readings across the USA.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 1, 2020
Cheryl Caesar’s debut book of poems, “Flatman and Other Poems of Protest in the Trump Era”, melds the author’s deeply visceral reaction to the 45th President with a highly observant and erudite account of events and consequences. The poem “Flatman”, which begins this slender volume, the author is in full Berserker cry, hurling cathartic blow after blow and contains an inventive and hilarious insult, “his ejaculate must smell like a cigarette butt in an old coke can.” Steven Colbert would be envious.
Fortunately, this collection is not a single tone anti-Trump screed. Caesar writes of events and actions that appalled and offended her: the detention of immigrant children, the hypocrisy of the Republican Party and unsavory characters such as Kanye West, Jared Kushner, Lindsey Graham and Kim Jong Un. She infuses her writing with a wide range of references, Yeats, Cervantes, Kipling and a playful piece about Michael Cohen set to Dr. Seuss’s song “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”.
Notable of her non-Trump pieces are “Night Cramp” where she uses the event of a leg cramp as a metaphor for her personal despair and pain; “Letter to Our Lady” concerning the fiery destruction of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris where the author lived and taught for many years; “Children Draw Themselves” based on a newspaper article describing artwork made by immigrant children in detention centers.
Like some films, this book is one that reveals additional insights upon multiple viewings. There are subtle, clever and often funny bits in Caesar’s work not immediately apparent. Those who are worn out and weary of the past 4 years, it is understandable that “Flatman” may hold scant appeal. But I would argue that you should hang on to it. Americans have very short memories and are shockingly and selectively amnesiac about the past. Tuck this away and return when events start having the vague odor of a groundhog. Reread these words of an intelligent and courageous
woman who bore witness and put down on paper a testament of one the worst periods of our nation’s history.
Fortunately, this collection is not a single tone anti-Trump screed. Caesar writes of events and actions that appalled and offended her: the detention of immigrant children, the hypocrisy of the Republican Party and unsavory characters such as Kanye West, Jared Kushner, Lindsey Graham and Kim Jong Un. She infuses her writing with a wide range of references, Yeats, Cervantes, Kipling and a playful piece about Michael Cohen set to Dr. Seuss’s song “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”.
Notable of her non-Trump pieces are “Night Cramp” where she uses the event of a leg cramp as a metaphor for her personal despair and pain; “Letter to Our Lady” concerning the fiery destruction of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris where the author lived and taught for many years; “Children Draw Themselves” based on a newspaper article describing artwork made by immigrant children in detention centers.
Like some films, this book is one that reveals additional insights upon multiple viewings. There are subtle, clever and often funny bits in Caesar’s work not immediately apparent. Those who are worn out and weary of the past 4 years, it is understandable that “Flatman” may hold scant appeal. But I would argue that you should hang on to it. Americans have very short memories and are shockingly and selectively amnesiac about the past. Tuck this away and return when events start having the vague odor of a groundhog. Reread these words of an intelligent and courageous
woman who bore witness and put down on paper a testament of one the worst periods of our nation’s history.
April 29, 2020
I first saw this author read one of her poems (Flatman) at an open mic on Facebook during the 2020 Pandemic. I was so intrigued, I got the book, and it is beyond excellent! Cheryl has the spirit of a warrior and the presence of a scholar. Get this book today~ you won't regret it for one moment!
April 30, 2020
Cheryl Caesar writes with a probing veracity and insight, reminding us of what we must not forget. If only Flatman were a fictitious character we might be laughing instead we feel like crying.
April 30, 2020
The writing is witty and satiric.It is interesting that the first pieces were written several years ago but still valid in today’s political climate. The viral analogy is so relevant. I like the use of existing poems and songs as background for the work. Caesar’s work is strongly political and driven by her passion.
April 30, 2020
Cheryl Caesar's writing reminds me of the writing of Joan Didion. In Flatman, she is burning the house down, and I am roasting marshmallows on it!
Therese Dawe-Wood
Essayist for Lansing Online News, Lansing Sidewalk Poet and retired nurse
Therese Dawe-Wood
Essayist for Lansing Online News, Lansing Sidewalk Poet and retired nurse
May 1, 2020
Witty and pointed. I especially like the haiku style ones such as the ‘the Origins of the Orange’.
May 1, 2020
Cheryl Caesar's poems are a much-needed counter punch to the disaster she so vividly portrays.
June 11, 2020
Flatman: Poems of Protest in the Trump EraA Courageous Look at the Unclothed Emperor
In Cheryl Caesar’s poetry chapbook, Flatman, she wastes no words in revealing her disdain for our current president, Donald J. Trump. Using song parodies as well as recent (and frequent) stumbles by the “esteemed leader,” Caesar skewers Trump not only for his one-dimensional character (“Flatman”), but also for his blatant disregard for the human suffering he creates and for his lack of knowledge about governance, history, or the dignity of the office he holds.
In “Rally of the Plastic Cheeto” (to the tune of “Plastic Jesus”), she labels him the “orange Messiah” and “plastic cheater.” In “An Elegy for Music and Silence,” the “braying trump [note the lower case ‘t’’] has robbed us of our rest.”
Ironically, some of the poems resonate with events occurring after the April 2020 publication of Flatman. Using what I hear as the rhythm of the children’s song “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands,” Caesar skewers the president though the persona of Michael Cohen, a former Trump aide, who was imprisoned in 2019 for tax evasion and campaign finance violations. Despite the recent news of Cohen’s possible release, Caesar reminds us that he openly denounced Trump in court: “I regret the day that I said yes to you, Donald Trump./I’m ashamed of every shady thing you do, Donald Trump.” Further, “Trump is Autographing Bibles,” to the tune of “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles,” echoes what some would say is the president’s use of the Bible as a prop in front of a church during the recent Black Lives Matter peaceful demonstrations. (It is reported that he had the peaceful demonstrators hit with tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray). Perhaps the deepest cut of all to his inflated ego lies in the last two lines: “Trump is autographing Bibles;/Soon he’ll claim he wrote them too.”
The poem which moves me the most is “Flowers and Candles,” which refers to Angel Le’s interview with his son after the 2015 terrorist shootings in Le Bataclan, in which the toddler expresses his fear of the “bad guys everywhere.” As is Caesar, I am comforted by the vision of this father telling his son that “They have guns but we have flowers/and candles everywhere.” And like Caesar, during this time fraught with a viral pandemic, unrest in the streets, and the lack of real national leadership. I wish for the comfort of “arms/circling like a protecting sky.”
In Cheryl Caesar’s poetry chapbook, Flatman, she wastes no words in revealing her disdain for our current president, Donald J. Trump. Using song parodies as well as recent (and frequent) stumbles by the “esteemed leader,” Caesar skewers Trump not only for his one-dimensional character (“Flatman”), but also for his blatant disregard for the human suffering he creates and for his lack of knowledge about governance, history, or the dignity of the office he holds.
In “Rally of the Plastic Cheeto” (to the tune of “Plastic Jesus”), she labels him the “orange Messiah” and “plastic cheater.” In “An Elegy for Music and Silence,” the “braying trump [note the lower case ‘t’’] has robbed us of our rest.”
Ironically, some of the poems resonate with events occurring after the April 2020 publication of Flatman. Using what I hear as the rhythm of the children’s song “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands,” Caesar skewers the president though the persona of Michael Cohen, a former Trump aide, who was imprisoned in 2019 for tax evasion and campaign finance violations. Despite the recent news of Cohen’s possible release, Caesar reminds us that he openly denounced Trump in court: “I regret the day that I said yes to you, Donald Trump./I’m ashamed of every shady thing you do, Donald Trump.” Further, “Trump is Autographing Bibles,” to the tune of “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles,” echoes what some would say is the president’s use of the Bible as a prop in front of a church during the recent Black Lives Matter peaceful demonstrations. (It is reported that he had the peaceful demonstrators hit with tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray). Perhaps the deepest cut of all to his inflated ego lies in the last two lines: “Trump is autographing Bibles;/Soon he’ll claim he wrote them too.”
The poem which moves me the most is “Flowers and Candles,” which refers to Angel Le’s interview with his son after the 2015 terrorist shootings in Le Bataclan, in which the toddler expresses his fear of the “bad guys everywhere.” As is Caesar, I am comforted by the vision of this father telling his son that “They have guns but we have flowers/and candles everywhere.” And like Caesar, during this time fraught with a viral pandemic, unrest in the streets, and the lack of real national leadership. I wish for the comfort of “arms/circling like a protecting sky.”
May 27, 2020
This was hard to read...allow me to explain. Cheryl has depicted Trump so honestly through each of these poems that it is a wonder the orange is still in office today. It seems he can do every wrong and still hold power in one of the highest offices in the land. But, Cheryl sheds light on where it must be shed or else how can we change the world, if we sweep injustice under the rug? "Children Draw Themselves," "The Parasite" and other shorter pieces really stood out to me. This collection is both a mirror for America and anthem for change.
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August 9, 2020Cheryl Caesar's Flatman is the poetic medicine our shared global community needs to heal the injustices and inhumanity of The Orange Cockroach. Rich in political activism and profound in calling out the inherant evil of Trump, Caesar's poetry sparks lights of inspiration in the reader's soul.
Denise M. Acevedo, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor, WRAC
Michigan State University
Designer/Facilitator, Transforming Teaching Through Reflective Writing Experiences
Co-author, Transforming Teaching Through Reflective Writing Experiences: Reflections of Michigan State University Faculty
Denise M. Acevedo, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor, WRAC
Michigan State University
Designer/Facilitator, Transforming Teaching Through Reflective Writing Experiences
Co-author, Transforming Teaching Through Reflective Writing Experiences: Reflections of Michigan State University Faculty
May 12, 2020
"One rotten apple may not spoil the barrel, but one bad orange puts us all in danger." sums up this collection pretty well. This is an emotional and gut-wrenching look at the last 4 years of the Trump administration through the poetic lens, no punches pulled, but everything softened by liquid written word. Dr. Caesar is a wonderful creative energy, her work never fails to convey emotion and sympathy for those affected by the current world state.
May 3, 2020
Cheryl Caesar's work weaves literary, historical, and world events into rich-textured fabric that is at once accessible and insightful.
Mary Anna Kruch
Author of We Draw Breath from the Same Sky and Tend Your Garden:Frameworks for Writing
Mary Anna Kruch
Author of We Draw Breath from the Same Sky and Tend Your Garden:Frameworks for Writing
May 3, 2020
Excellent read--the poetry of catharsis. Cheryl Caesar and her squadron of literary muses help us process the living disaster movie of post-2016 politics and come out feeling affirmed, lighter--even smiling. Watch for more from this author!
--Karen Stock
--Karen Stock
July 21, 2020
She weaves her poetic satire with recognizable children’s hymns, fine literature, and flawless craft but, with a side of a political comedian at the bar. Her clever sarcasm will weld itself in your head and keep you…yet bring uncontrollable laughter.
June 15, 2020
The poems in Cheryl Caesar’s Flatman are approachable for an afternoon read but rich with subtle meaning, filled with music and humor but weighty with emotion. It is a book that calls to be read in its time but speaks its truths timelessly. In short, the poems in Flatman achieve a complexity and fullness that their subject could never hope for.
August 19, 2020
Amid the many censures of the Trump administration, Caesar’s stands out in its surprising range of tone, angle, and poetic form. Drawing on her decades of living outside the U.S., she shows herself able to draw back the lens from “The new Quixote, Don of Orange” to take in the world, such as in the lyrical petition at the close of her “Flowers and Candles". “Where are you, Angel Le?” she asks the man whom reporters caught comforting his young son after the 2015 Paris bombings. “I will bring flowers every day/and candles every night”, Caesar writes, “just to hear your calm voice, and see/your face and your son’s like bright planets/in the darkness, your arms/circling like a protecting sky.”
June 3, 2020
Cheryl Caesar’s poems are witty, erudite, and often darkly humorous in a way that also allows for grief and anger at the depredations of Trump and his administration. In Flatman, she alternates between elegant literary language and the simplistic language of Trump’s cronies, painting a vivid and sometimes satirical picture of what happens to innocence when childish characteristics are combined with adult power.
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November 4, 2020I got to read Flatman tonight in one sitting.
The clown is sometimes an apt metaphor for Mr Trump but then he’s made clowns of the many. No one can laugh long because the situation is tragic.
I believe “the rocks cry out” if the truth is not spoken. Thank you for being spokesperson for the “light” beings among us.
I salute you
Bron
The clown is sometimes an apt metaphor for Mr Trump but then he’s made clowns of the many. No one can laugh long because the situation is tragic.
I believe “the rocks cry out” if the truth is not spoken. Thank you for being spokesperson for the “light” beings among us.
I salute you
Bron
October 25, 2022
Each poem is delightfully spiteful in response to what and who is ridiculous and abhorrent. Humor, rhythm, and rhyme are forged to address the inexplicable and confounding in this smart chapbook. In poems of varying styles, Caesar calls attention to the absurdity and despair of November 8, 2016, and all that followed, is following. These poems are works of their time; one also desperately hopes they become historical relics.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews