“I pledge allegiance to the Flag
of the United States of America . . . ”
that was his by birthright
by practise
by memory
by rote
enforced by childhood in school
and preceding
“ . . under God . . ”
when God was jimmied in jerry-rigged
it didnt come
out of his mouth at morning recital
before instruction began
standing
beside his desk
turned to face the flag
his hand upon
his heart
he was secular before he knew
what secular was
he knew God belonged in
Church
and this was school
if
you wanted to pray to God
go to Church
besides
what God would settle for a pledge
therefore
steadfastly
he
remained true and loyal to the Way he was taught
apparently -
obscenely - according to a succession of teachers - he refused
to budge
it seemed to him an arithmetic
equation as simple as 1+1=2
“under God” would weight one
side of the equation and throw it out of kilter
and from the front pages of the
newspapers he delivered on his route he was already
gathering America was doing
and not doing things he believed it shouldnt have or
should have done
America was not representative
of him
and as he grew older it only
grew worse
YES!
America
seemed better than almost every other country in the World
although he had never lived
anywhere else
YET
he believed it could be far better than it was . . .
he believed it could be far better than it was . . .
and if someone asked him
his opinion
he had a simple reply:
he had a simple reply:
“Lose
God”
1544, Thursday,
10 4. 14
