In the first grade, they taught us to pledge our allegiance
to
the flag, our little hands over our hearts, because it was
our
country, and they called us Patriots; the next week
we
single-filed into the school hallway and knelt on the floor,
curling
ourselves into little human balls with our hands interlaced
over
our heads because of the bad people who wanted to hurt us;
but
we were Patriots, one and all, and the flag would always protect us,
as they told us it would, as we learned to believe,
trusting them.
But
today the Patriots are amassing weapons of warfare, a war against
each
other, against the flag, against the ones who would protect us,
and
I wonder aloud, crying out, my hands pleading, “if I kneel down
on
the floor and curl myself into a ball, who will protect me now?”
Possible 3rd verse I played with but decided to omit.
Question: Should I have kept it there?
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And I listened
for an answer, but there were none calling back,
only the sound of
the wind blowing and the birds flying overhead,
offering hope in
the songs they carried.
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