Poem: "America Is"

america is a two hundred forty eight year old child.

america is a dentist with bad teeth.

america is the rock and the hard place.

america is a toy car on the highway.

america is turbulence on a windless day.

america is an inside out umbrella.

america is not a dumpster.

america is a dumpster fire.

america is a dumpster, filled with july fourth fireworks, on fire.

america is a dumpster explosion.

america is a diving board at the shallow end.

america is drowning that looks like waving.

america is someone's hell and no one's heaven.

america is loving and losing at the same time, over and over, then just losing.

america is a mansion on a fault line.

america is a ship, filled with gold bars, sinking before it can sail.

america is a honey bee drowning in its own honey.

america is a seed that refuses to sprout.

america is a tree that refuses its roots.

america pretends to be the good guy who plays nice with the bad guys.

america is the bad guy.

america is not a grown man.

america is a remake that thinks it's a sequel.

america is a scared bully, but mostly just scared.

america is a selfie in a mass shooting.

america is a paper cut from the constitution.

america is an electric bill that’s too high to make all fifty stars shine.

america is if wishing upon a star meant staring into the sun.

america is a bird that believes its a dragon.

america is not a bald eagle.

america is a vulture.

and worse, america is a man.

america is a king.

america is a dying king, fallen from refusing to bend a knee, even just to pray. fallen from wars he made. fallen and dragging himself across muddy moats. then banging down the castle door. then cheering as it falls. then squirming along velvet rugs. then crying into stone floors. then spending his last breath on a laugh.

because america is a mad king. 

america is a mad king.

america is a mad king.

and america is laughing, still. wiping tear stains from marble steps. crawling towards the throne.