Bartholomew Barker

The Emperor strode across the stage, declaring
he’d woven his suit and robes from the purest gold
and they were the classiest, comfortablest clothes
he or anyone had ever worn.

Social media saluted, his cultists cheered,
grateful reporters transcribed every word,
and very serious pundits on television debated
both sides of his glory.

But the poets and children pointed and laughed
at his flabby delusions and flaccid dingle.

Elon, Jeff and Mark asserted
no one could possibly see
through his magnificent new clothes
and that it was clearly huge.

Bartholomew Barker works with Living Poetry. He has published a full-length collection, a chapbook, and been nominated for a Pushcart and the Best of the Net. His work has recently appeared in Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Panoply, Tipton Poetry Journal, Gyroscope Review and the Naugatuck River Review among others. bartbarkerpoet.com

This poem appeared in Record of Dissent: Poems of Protest in an Authoritarian Age — Summer 2025, published by The Chaos Section Poetry Project. We’ll be featuring each poem from the collection individually in the weeks ahead. You can read the full collection or download a free PDF of the chapbook here.