Hyphenated Heritage

Hyphenated Heritage


16 - quit school to be a cowboy
17 - tried to join the Marines
18 - called to be a Baptist preacher

who's that sentimental American fool
I am that hyphenated citizen
The Foolish-American

born on All Fool's Day
fluent in Foolish
raised in the heartland of Fools

where we translate Americas as
Amo Amas Ame Ricas —
we love riches

prophets & profits of raw war
from arctic to tropic
Foolish-Americans have traipsed

raising our arms
pens plowshares and swords in hand
offering our spoor

a proud Foolish-American
raised on homeland clod & sod
as Foolish roots hold the deep

as America
bristles
& twigs

now not a proud Foolish-American
for cannons named Sacrifice
howitzers called Slingshot

in the old country
Foolsland
our president was a poet

his concubine controlled
a Department of Peace
(which makes all Fools giggle)

in this new world of deserts
pick up chalk & scrawl
POETS PREFER PEACE

on the other side
in invisibly large Foolish letters —
GIVE US POETS AS CANDIDATES

now now I'm beginning
to want to forget
my Foolish heritage

now now I remember
to try to embrace my American half
& Lady Liberty's thorny crown

stop at the light
theres a bank on the corner
with bilingual clerks


Gene Keller

Posted over on Unlikely 2.0