day FOUR HUNDRED and NINETY THREE

norwegian day parade

all of the white men

are wearing sports t-shirts

and hats emblazoned with the american flag

they are making america great again

by loitering on street corners

with beer breath before noon

the women have visors

with rainbow-colored see-through vinyl

they talk about the men in sport shirts

drinking beer on the lord’s day

the streets are lined with people

waving norwegian flags

ruddy faced kids who’ve never seen california

let alone the northern lights in winter

cheer in plastic viking hats

as long black limos push waving white girls

and geriatric g.i. joes

down sun-soaked streets of majesty

behind wooden viking ships on wheels

they are celebrating culture

pasty pale-faced culture

the right kind of culture here in brooklyn

eating food with no discernable tastes

pasty pale-face food

the kind of culture that doesn’t get complicated

that can assimilate in just a generation

culture that won’t get you stopped on the streets

by cops down here

cops who waved at cars passing by

cops who know their neighbors

cops who do not carry ak-47s and wear camouflage

like they do in other parts of the city

where parades get flagged as possible terrorist activity

where gyrating and dancing are seen as a threat

and all of the white men cheer

when the white girls wave

their blonde hair as golden as the sun

and all of the white women wave their flags

remember back when they were young

and rode down 3^rd avenue in limos

and all of the geriatric g.i. joes should be put out to pasture

as politicians sweat on podiums

holding damp paper

waiting to introduce this week’s wounded veteran

to the kids in viking hats grunting

and flexing their muscles

little kids with blond hair and blond teeth

who look like little conquerors ready to tackle history

the ones who will become soldiers

the ones who will become cops

cops who will know their neighbors

cops who will wave at cars passing by

and marvel at viking ships on wheels

and marvel at white girls waving

who will bow when the national anthem gets played

by multi-cultural kids in a marching band

kids who will become the kind of stand-up guys

who will only use their ak-47s

on the right kind of people.

--John Grochalski