Symbols’
Crash {
South Carolina}
"Oh
beautiful,
forsaken skies. . ."
The
flag of rebellion crashes down on me
Smothers me
Chokes me,
Centuries of oppression bear down upon me at once
Charleston S.C. The feeling engages me,
Boa Constrictor
Compression until I reach
critical mass and flare up,
Burning the cord that holds the
American flag
Aloft, keeping it from
suicide with
one string,
Setting it loose to
flutter down
It aims itself toward my body
Immersed in
napalm-
sticky fire.
Stars and stripes bursts into flame.