AT THE OPENING OF THE
TRUMP (p)RESIDENTIAL LIBRARY™ (at Mar-a-Lago)
(Thanks to my friend and
neighbor Chuck for suggesting that such a place may someday exist.)
At the inauguration of the
Trump (p)Residential Library™ (at Mar-a-Lago,) I am led past the largest crowd to ever gather for such an event, into a luxurious and chandeliered foyer, and
up a golden escalator to the doors of the Trump Grand Ballroom™. Above the doors of the ballroom is an oversized,
black velvet portrait of the great man, himself, surrounded by rococo cherubs
who look oddly like flying hairpieces.
My invitation is scanned
(for the third time) by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, and upon
clearance the ballroom doors, triggered by an electronic eye, open inward to a
pitch black, cavernous space.
I enter, and he doors
close behind me. I am enveloped by darkness and silence for one moment before a
voice rises from a surround sound system.
It is the voice we have all come to recognize as the 45th
President of the United States™. The
text is of his remarks at a rally in Illinois, on Oct. 27, 2018, as arranged by
students of the ghost of Wm S. Burroughs.
The recording is staggered
between speakers to give the effect of many voices reciting an eternal text.
After a minute, a single
spotlight illuminates two women in the center of the ballroom, poised to begin
a couple’s dance.
The figures are
animatronics models of Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kellyanne Conway. They sway in close embrace, and over the course
of their performance move through various forms of social dance: foxtrot, waltz, tango, lindy-hop, and a few I
don’t recognize. Neither the rhythm of
the soundtrack, nor the rhythm of the dance change.
It’s hard to tell how much
time passes in excruciating surreality when the soundtrack, the dance, and the
lights end simultaneously.
As the doors open behind
me and light slides to my feet, I hear the sound of one person applauding from
the deep.
An ICE agent enters, takes
me by the arm, and escorts me from the room.
TBC…
RW
Seattle, WA
Halloween, 2018
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