poem of the day 06.10.10

street of one hundred american flags

street of one hundred american flags
hanging off of red-bricked houses
standing erect from the antennas of cars
street of oil stains on top of battered tar
street of japanese sports utility vehicles lining
the sidewalk
street of old men in rocking chairs, sucking on
cigars, fat on the american dream
street of mexican day laborers making
beautiful green lawns in the hot summer sun
street of endless strollers, carrying endless, wailing babies
street of dumb kids twittering their thumbs
on the corner with nothing better to do
street of the failing school system
street of the healthy joggers with bad hearts
and high blood pressure
street of cigarette butt mosaics
street of plastic bag acrobats
street of drooping lilacs and anemic maples
street of crushed beer cans and starbuck’s cups
street of old women drinking coffee under
a pale blue sky suffocating on carbon dioxide
street of brown weeds and dead bees
street of skinnky stray cats fighting people for food
street of ancient chinese nomads collecting
bottled water bottles for profit
street where the taxes are paid early
street of the rising national debt
street of organic cellular cancer waves
street of the most, immaculate holy failure
street of dead snails baking in the sun
street of merciless, limp-cocked unions
street of bank propaganda
street of one-eyed hooligan tea hurlers
street of one hundred american flags
hanging off of red-brick houses
muting color
fraying the light wind.