July 4, 2020
we normally
barbecue burgers
let potato salad wilt in afternoon heat
spit watermelon seeds against oak trees
raise flags, drink iced tea and warm beer
as dusk draws down
into purple, and then black
punctuated with shimmered light
but this year
hollowed out,
we pick ourselves up read these words and hold them to the light
we lost our way
have allowed this destruction of life
he bends justice watching it break
binds judges to his will muffling justice’s voice
abdicates responsibility abandons us without protection sacrificial lambs to his economy
pummels, incites, excites division stroking, always stroking his fragile ego
a death clock ticks 130,000 dead and counting
now is the time
end this long train
of abuses
of tears
of death
signed,
The Founding Framers
copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2020 Posted to Poets and Storytellers Pantry
Note: On July 4 this year, I sat down to read the Declaration of Independence and was struck by its language. This piece grew out of and t…
let potato salad wilt in afternoon heat
spit watermelon seeds against oak trees
raise flags, drink iced tea and warm beer
as dusk draws down
into purple, and then black
punctuated with shimmered light
but this year
hollowed out,
we pick ourselves up read these words and hold them to the light
we lost our way
have allowed this destruction of life
he bends justice watching it break
binds judges to his will muffling justice’s voice
abdicates responsibility abandons us without protection sacrificial lambs to his economy
pummels, incites, excites division stroking, always stroking his fragile ego
a death clock ticks 130,000 dead and counting
now is the time
end this long train
of abuses
of tears
of death
signed,
The Founding Framers
copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2020 Posted to Poets and Storytellers Pantry
Note: On July 4 this year, I sat down to read the Declaration of Independence and was struck by its language. This piece grew out of and t…
