What Could Go Wrong?

A Satirical Limerick Series About Overconfidence

By Forest Moss © 2025

He banned all the books but then printed his own—

Each page was a rant with a terrible tone.

"Kids will be brighter with facts that I write!"

He smirked in the mirror and turned out the light.

What could go wrong?

He flattened the press into one happy sheet—

Where only his slogans repeated on beat.

“Good news is good if it’s written by me!”

He called it “free speech” and trademarked the key.

What could go wrong?

He painted the sky with his face and a crown,

Then fired the clouds for not raining straight down.

He jailed every joke and outlawed a sneeze—

“Too loud!” he proclaimed. “They disrespect me!”

What could go wrong?

He hired his friends to run every school,

Replaced every lesson with “One Simple Rule.”

They learned about loyalty, gold, and applause—

But no one could name what the forest once was.

What could go wrong?

He stacked up the courts with some birds who agreed,

Then passed a new law that he’d always succeed.

When someone said “Wait,” he just puffed up and squawked—

Then trimmed every branch where dissenters once talked.

What could go wrong?

He built a great wall around rivers and thought,

Then taxed every question that hadn’t been bought.

He smiled at a map that now bore just one name—

But forgot what it meant when no one remained.

What could go wrong?

🪶 Moral:

When power wears feathers and flies on hot air,

Beware of the ones who pretend they’re your care.

A leader who silences all but his song...

Might sound quite majestic—

But what could go wrong?