poemS of the day 07.04.12

the american flag is ugly

the american flag is ugly

and so am i

sitting at this work desk

surrounded by everyone dressed

in red, white, and blue

they love to antagonize me with this shit

really think that it gets my goat

they start singing

oh beautiful

but can’t remember the words

show me search engines decked out

for the holiday

smirk at me and say

well, what do you think of that?

i tell them that it simply confirms so much

of what i already believe

i stop short of calling them

ugly americans

after all, i have to put in forty hours a week here

so i hum some woody guthrie instead

still they keep it up

don’t you like hot dogs? they ask

hamburgers?

cold beer and good old american barbeques?

i tell them when it rains on the fourth of july

i get a happy feeling in my heart

i shut the blinds

drink chilean wine and eat indian food

watch films with subtitles colored blood red

but all they want to talk about are fireworks

the pretty colors exploding in the sky

and shattering across the landscape

killing thousands of birds

just like back in 1776

they say

equating a call for independence

with the end of the war

that ancient battle

the struggle that the french won for us

only no one here

seems to want to talk about that.

booze cruise

he was a nothing

a bit player in this place

before the new owners gave it the once over

and changed its name

he sat around with puppy dog eyes

clutching a sweating bottle of bud

looking for a conversation

he could weasel his way into

but now none of the old drunks come in here

he’s got his big boy pants on

and he’s the king of the bar

stuffing his fat ass into a prime seat

playing the star-spangled banner on the jukebox

a lackluster version of a lackluster song

sung by some nashville princess

with blonde hair and a botox face

when we sit down he swills half of his bottle

and gives us the once over

the nod of recognition

points at the chalk board behind the bar

says, are youse guys goin’ta tha booze cruise

on the fourth of july?

i don’t even know what the booze cruise is, i tell him

hoping that’ll end it

but it doesn’t

you pay eighty-bucks, he continues

get all of the free booze you want

take the boat right into the harbor

get so close to the fireworks and the other action

that you can almost see right up lady liberty’s skirt

he stops talking and smiles at us

checks to see if we’re taking it all in

then says

now tell me something more american than that?

before he waddles off of his stool

to play god bless america on the juke

turning back to wink at us

i look at this true blue slob and think

you, buddy,

nothing is more american than you.