We fly “Bold Story”
Throughout Americaland®.
So far removed now,
practice from ideal —
Flag from republic
To which we pledge
Separate allegiances —
That we start to see
How close they never were,
Despite flourished
Pen strokes of progress.
Upon such discoveries,
We avert our eyes and
Attentions away,
While continuing to parse
“Independence” indepently.
The Great Adventure
Amusement park with its
Nauseating rollercoasters,
Popular shooting galleries,
Distorting funhouse mirrors,
And wasteful amounts
Of toxic foods.
“Fun for the whole family,”
If you can afford it.
Maybe it’s because
We’re a kid country
That we’re so gullible.
So easily distracted
By light and noise
To lesson the sting
Of our parents divorcing,
Each one speaking
Ill of the other,
Demanding we offsrping,
Pick a side or forfeit
Our rights to any gifts.
Even on birthdays like today.
Fetes — closed to many
For long spells—
Still insisting new guests
Bring their own cake
Once parties were made
Open to the (re?)public.
Yet celebrations go on, with
Fireworks reminding us
Of the violence that both
Forged us and defines us.
Burgers, hot dogs,
and Budweiser beers
(All of Germany provenance)
Consumed to commemorate
The birth of a country
(Named for an Italian).
We adorn our buildings
And bodies with
The flag colors of a total
Twenty-one countries.
Our “dread, fright, and true”
Fabrics swaddle some
In reverence,
Wrap others as bandages
Or mummification.
Without irony,
Bunting hang on porches
Just feet from where
Bodies hung on tree branches.
The republic for which
Our flag stands
Is no longer an
“Indivisible” nation.
(The flag now standing for
Unrealized promises —
Which some can’t stand for.)
Our socio-political architecture
Is defective, if not broken.
Few can even find an owner’s
Manual to reference,
While more of us are just
(Right- and left-)winging it,
America’s pastime presently
Parsing differences between
The letters of law and
The spirit of the law,
And the necessary definition
Of the word “all”
As referred to in
“All men” and “Justice for all.”
Who are the we in “all?”
Those of us still working
68% harder to prove equal,
Even with the 13th long in play?
Those of us nearly
Eradicated in population,
Even with 50% of states
Still named after or by
Our tribes?
(And of those who would
choose that all be forgotten —
People stolen from land,
Land stolen from people,
Both peoples still denied
The full “sweetness” of liberty?)
Or those of us earning
23% less while proving equal,
Even with the 14th long in play?
Or those who fight
100% of our wars overseas
Yet still battle themselves,
Our loved ones,
And “the system”
Once back home, unconsidered?
“... Of thee I sing...”?
A dirge, perhaps,
Punctuated by the
“Ringing of freedom”
Varying in clarity and volume
Depending upon one’s
Proximity to history’s
complete story, sins and all.
Overhead in changing winds,
“Told Story” whips
Losing its thread,
As the house paint chips
On the home of the brave —
Of the now divisible —
Its whitewash now visible
On the warped and bloodied
Framework of sins underneath.
Speaking freely — a grace
I neither take for granted
Nor shirk from as my duty —
I love America very much.
I just wish we lived there.
It sounds like a great place,
Where good is crowned —
Cue deserved fanfare —
With complete brotherhood.