c. 2023 Rod Ice
All rights reserved
(3-23)
A canine in the kennel, teeth bared and sharp
Taken into custody
By the Manhattan civil authorities
Charges filed in court
A sensation that media outlets will soon breathlessly report
Around the globe
Spinning tales of protest and preening pundits
Faces to the camera lens
The calendar reads January, once again
Diesel trucks belch their fumes
Peacocks feather and fan their plumes
The Gadsden flag flies
As if today evoked a memory of 1775
Did Lincoln later answer the question of our fate as a nation?
Not so, it appears
Democracy is in arrears
Division provides a meal fit for scoundrels
A plate of grubs and bones to gnaw
A withering carcass, revealed in a seasonal thaw
My country ‘tis of thee
Sweet land of lobbyists and conflict
The destination spot that our founders picked
In between the kings and queens of an old world
And new-age stones, violently hurled
In the name of betterment
A crashed car, crawling off the road
A ferry full of freedom fighters, struggling under the load
Rights surrendered
Liberty, tendered
At a cost that causes an eye to tear, and heaving breaths to swell the chest
We haven’t reached the battleground, just yet
A virtual town square
Bullhorn static fills the air
The leash goes taut as onlookers jump backward
From the barking mongrel
Spitting saliva by the mouthful
One paw raised as a sign to the defiant crowd
“PROTEST! PROTEST! SHOUT IT OUT LOUD!”
I need more than a casual drink
To consider what this day has become
A clash of tribes, opposed
Soldiers dressed in street clothes
The pledge taken since childhood, now has a hollow tone
Uncle Sam doffs his hat
America will survive this disruptor’s spat
And abide
