Fall in America

they say our forefathers
fought for this
but my
emancipated
belief is

the state of these
united shapes today
would break their
hearts
into fifty
pieces



Anomalous lady in
incandescent light
we are kinless - and foreign
but your dress
I clutch vainly at its hem,
with its infinite stars,
and lines
that never cross.

this freedom counts costs
in loss
and lives
reviled and resized
to slip through cracks
displaced
displayed
on dollar signs

Why shiver
in your own confines?
The telescope's ring
has worn thin,
a constant
coast-line vigil,
searching for midnights,
scanning the skies
for fireworks

but what's worse
is what we're worth
or at least
what we make work
some god's implied blessing
while the world
bears its worst curse

to observe
you open your purse
for blood and oil,
while the kids
cannot learn,
take a clean flag,
wipe clean your
democracy

hold the harbour torch
an inch higher
and let it shine it brighter,
for all the nations to see.