Stephen Lewis (Cincinnati, OH)

A fabricated self seeks independent eyes
Loyal to the last of a dieing kind…
Oh, how could you save them?
What good have they brought?
Too many to feed and not enough kill each other
Off

By now you’ve seen this before
So little time between a world war
Broadening the gaps of nationalism and duty
“Occupy or Die”
Secure the interests of another tiny america
Harmless now; but six weeks came and passed
Welcome home a freshly molded soldier boy

One flag to grace a box
And say a prayer for you, my friend
Nods and yes, yes sir, sir, yes, sir
Ticket tape and adoring fans await
An automatic hero is set upon the stool

Lift them up to such hallow ground…
Tiny little gods to perplex your tiny life
Goals and stages measure up to; “OH! , what a sacrifice…”
Gratis graduation to a high end personification
Blind eyes scratching backs; this obligation pursued
Capitulation covers sleeping devotees
Driven to wave a flag and call it home

Justified by their ancestor’s previous attempts at genocide
Granted the hand of Law by
Mere pigments and other quiet bigot’s tricks