For all the ink shed on the subject of Donald Trump, hardly a word is said about his love of poetry. Yet there is at least one piece of verse he adores and regularly performs to cheering crowds. Last month, the White House even turned it into a short film. Called The Snake (and originally written as a song by Oscar Brown Jr), it is as close as this president gets to a credo.
The poem begins with a half-frozen snake, “all frosted with the dew” and begging to be taken into the warmth. His plea is heeded by a “tender-hearted woman”:
