America! Remember me?
Who am I? The little girl who stood up
in first grade, hand over heart,
and recited the Pledge of Allegiance:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
“THAT LITTLE GIRL WAS ME!”
to quote Kamala Harris, who was bussed to school.
Like her, I believed in liberty and justice for all!
America! You brainwashed me.
I can feel my father, son of a Ukrainian immigrant
who fell for the American dream, rolling in his grave.
What would he say if he knew his old nemesis the real estate
conman who evicted him is president? Haha! Is this a joke?
Some joke! America elects a wannabe dictator who promises
to fix our immigration problem and uses Gestapo tactics.
Suckers! You’re next! What’s deportation but mass eviction?
Whatever happened to America?
America! I’m talkin’ to you. You forgot who you are!
You’re suffering from early-onset dementia.
I have bad news, America! You have Alzheimer’s
of the soul. America! You forgot me.
Who am I? I’m a child of the ‘60s!
Talkin’ ‘bout my generation.
Whatever happened to us? We had hope!
We were gonna change the world, remember?
Second-wave feminists who went to probate court
to take back our names. Roe v. Wade survivors!
Women’s libbers who subscribed to Ms. Bra-burners!
Remember us? Where are we now? We don’t exist.
When Hillary lost, I thought, “There goes my dream
of seeing a woman elected president in my lifetime.”
Then, Biden passes the torch… I confess,
I fell for the fantasy of a female POTUS. Twice!
America, you betrayed me! You voted for a convicted felon
over a smart woman. The only women in U.S. history
nominated by a major party for president lose the election
to this grotesque parody of patriarchy.
Surrealist director of American cinema David Lynch
is dead; Donald Trump mounts the throne at the spectacle
of his second inauguration, on the pyre of democracy:
David Lynch’s birthday, January 20, MLK Day 2025!
O say can you see…
The Lynchian dream of Hollywood is burning.
L.A. wildfires usher in Trump’s second term.
The climate change denier drill, baby, drill and his gang
of billionaire oligarchs who pick our pockets salute him.
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave…
Flag Day is Donald Trump’s birthday. He hugs
the flag like he’s grabbing America’s pussy.
Day 1, with a flourish of his pen, he rewrites
the Constitution and hijacks democracy.
O’er the land of the free and the home of the…
When I heard he won again I felt all the air get sucked
out of me. I felt sucker-punched. I felt hope collapse.
I felt like somebody who’s just had his guts
kicked in, wearing this silly grin on my face.
Who am I? I’m Bogie in Casablanca
standing on a train platform in the rain,
waiting for her, as the Nazis prepare to enter Paris,
and she never shows…America! You stood me up!