I am not a patriot.
I kneel when called to stand
And rise when told to sit still.
I have no respect for flags
And those who wave them.
Rifles repulse me;
I would never kill for my country.
I worship neither the God
On the dollar nor
The God of anthems and parades,
Nor the Church, nor the State;
I am a Godless heretic,
A traitor to patriots.

I am not a patriot.
I failed high school civics, 
Never learned to write in cursive:
I curse in polite company.
I pledge allegiance to nothing
But the true and the just,
And my clear conscience 
Is the only judge I obey.
I thank the troops but not their charge;
Democracy cannot be dropped from a drone—
I am appalled by what is done in my name.

No, I am not a patriot
And never one will be.
For I belong to the soil, to the sky,
And to the longing of living things
To grow toward a distant, landless sun.

Saturday, October 28, 2017