Here come the swoolen proud-
-flag waving,
haughty-
-with badges of patriotism
pinned to the chest.
Loudspeaker mouths
blare out
louder
patriotic marches than
the human
ear can endure:
“A real live relation Sam,
to my uncle
Born on the fourth
of July.”
Colorblind.
and blue;
red, white
suspicious even
Perceiving only
of the red.
Hearing aids which
register only
a patriotic fervor.
Heavy-footed,
stomping out the vintages
where the grapes of wrathe
are stores.
Such wine
dissolves all
worldly ties,
setting brother
against brother.
He
is the vigilant protector,
bringing war
to distant lands
that we might
not suffer his
oppressive presence
here
at home.
My brother is lost.
A snake-tongue’d man entranced him
into signing up
and joining in a war in a backward land
who’s primitives
(so said the charming snake-tongue’d man)
presented a threat
to our homeland and our way of life.
My brother was lost
fighting for and against the words of snake-tongue’d men who
have no country.
Fighting for free enterprise against strangers in a strange land,
my brother was lost.
Now the snake-tongue’d man exhorts me to
find my brother
and finish his job, least his life be wasted.
I love my brother
dearly and, though a life can only be wasted by the one
possessing it,
I swear vengeance on those responsible for
my brother’s loss.
The snake-tongue’d men hide behind flags
and snicher,
licking their thin lips at the future scent
of carnage,
pointing to the strangers, saying: “They took your brothers, seek
redress from them.”
Let’s gird ourselves in ignorance,
traveling the narrow path of obedience.
For the homeland we love so dear,
we go to kill the stranger.
They wear the badge
of patriotism
over the heart.
of greed.
Selfish of their own
possessions,
greedy of
another’s.
Why cheapen a miracle by claiming possession?
says the extended chest,
“This is mine,”
“and I’ll kill whoever denies it.”
says the clenched fist,
Kings and statesmen give him a pat on the back
and an M-16,
applauding
the true citizen, who supports their government.
Without patriotism
and the justification of war,
how would our young men satisfy
their blood lust?
Might they become honest
psychopathic murderers
and policemen?
Without patriotism
there would be no free world for Standard Oil.
They extol it as a virtue,
saying:
‘I am better’
is preferable to
‘all is good.’
I pledge allegiance to the earth
and to the sky around me,
and to my family and my friends,
and all who treat me likewise.
One world
undivided
with liberty and justice for all.
This is my pledge,
the only just allegiance.
Freedom
is the name of the land
where I choose to reside.
Freedom
is my birthright,
inherited from a continent who’s soul is
freedom.
It is the soul of his homeland
which gives the true patriot
his power. His defense
cannot be overcome. But,
should he carry his pride
to distant lands, his power wanes
away from home unless the whole
world calls him forth.
The true patriot is not
a soldier or a conqueror,
he is a hermit in
the mountains and
an honest farmer.