Nails In The Coffin Poem by Eric Cockrell

there's an American flag burning
in a barrel down in a broken alley.
three homeless vets warming their hands,
passing smokes, and a bottle of 'mad dog'.

paint peeling from the haunted porch
of a vacant house; trash blows
across the yard and down the street,
an old dog waits furtively at the door.

and the girl with the needle, and
painted eyes, sprawled naked in the tub...
watching roaches crawl across the floor,
fear struck dreams and the mother rush.

little boy playing in hand-me-down clothes
left out on the sidewalk in the cold.
hungry, and he just dont know to care,
wonders when his mom is coming home.

the devil and the preacher both selling soap,
the far right patriots just selling hate.
the deaf-eared mongers in Washington,
turn their heads and pour another drink!

but 'all is well! all is well! ' resounds,
the caw birds lie on the hypnotic screen.
nails in the coffin, gun in the mouth,
an American flag burning in a barrel!