no one turns on the tv / to hear about russia (china, argentina, iran) / no one replaces the american flag / burned but hanging / by a thin blue string / red ash whispered on the ground
they’re too busy sorting out the ashes / of parents and brothers and friends / of unfinished homework left on the table
no one remembers to put up the dinner left on the stove / or hit send on that email to their representative / lamenting gas prices / immigrants and electric cars
they carry pearl white bones in tattered bags / the dust on their hands as they dig graves in scorched earth/ after they crawl in truck beds and forget their war regalia / look to the bruised sky and blame it / their guns fire at hellfire / and they pray that the devil fears a bullet
no one catches the presidential address / filmed by iphone / his white home stained gray / while he begs the nation for more war / to crawl from the rubble they called home / and say ‘america first’
no one remembers where they buried their patriotism / so they leave without it / while the world throbs around them / and radioactive dust warms the cold nights / shadows of loved ones left still on the pavement
no one sings the national anthem / but they do press hands to stone / people here have already been sent to a promised land / and they’re sure they’re next
no one puts on their jeans and boots/ and holds their cowboy hats to their hearts / eyes looking to the red white and blue hanging from a silver stake
they take the things they can carry / walking forward still / and keep their eyes down / when the heat hits their back
