Flag Day Birthday
Born
quondam
on Flag Day,
I never understood
the reason for displaying the flag.
To celebrate life well
one must fly
beyond
days.
Will
the dead
march the streets
on Flag Day to protest
this nation’s rape by the greedy men
who bury their millions?
The dead roam
this lost
world.
Hang
the flag
from a pole,
from your porch, from morning
until the moon makes it wave goodbye:
hang it upside down, too:
drape it all
around
you.
quondam
on Flag Day,
I never understood
the reason for displaying the flag.
To celebrate life well
one must fly
beyond
days.
Will
the dead
march the streets
on Flag Day to protest
this nation’s rape by the greedy men
who bury their millions?
The dead roam
this lost
world.
Hang
the flag
from a pole,
from your porch, from morning
until the moon makes it wave goodbye:
hang it upside down, too:
drape it all
around
you.
I take it that the author of these poems perceive Flag Day as a day of mourning. Is it for all of the soldiers who have died in our wars? To me, we do that on another day ... Memorial Day. I watched CBS Sunday Morning this morning and they defined what "Flag Day" was: a celebration of a flag that has evovled from a tattered rage at Fort Henry to the great bellowing thing it is today. I guess there was an implied celebration for this country and the ideals (real or feigned) that the flag represents. I learn all my history on CBS Sunday Morning.
ReplyDeleteWell yes, Flag Day is the day that celebrates the creation of our flag. But, as a flag it is a symbol of American freedom and Democracy. If it weren't a symbol it would merely be a piece of decorative cloth people might hoist for who knows what irrational reason. It is what the flag symbolizes that has been eroded by corporate hegemony, the irrational politics of religious dodos, and our culture of apathetic consumerism. For this reason, Flag Day might be a good day to question what the flag stands for and whether what the soldiers died for has been realized or is being eroded.
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