i hear my heart like the agitator in the washing
machine and wonder if i am going to die. all my
hopes and dreams are teetering on the brink of
extinction, my future disappearing like a rainforest.
i know that soon we will all be past the point
of no return, and if the wrong candidate gets elected
i will not want to be American anymore. i will leave
in tears like the lover packing suitcases, knowing
they will never love like that again. i feel like we
are all dressing for a funeral- the death of the
American Dream. what exactly was it, anyway? did we
ever nail it down? and the poor Statue- she must
have been so beautiful in her day. i wish
just once i could have seen her the way that
my family did, on the boat over- glittering
on the horizon. she has gone green- maybe
she feels sick. like that old indian chief
on television with a tear running down his face.
i am a Native here, too. i am losing my country
just as they did. the war machine is different,
but the pain- the loss- it's all the same.
after i am dead, my story and the story of
my people will be told. a people divided-
a people confused and frightened and misled
and desperate and angry-
when i am dead,
bury my heart on Commack Road.
Author notes
the title- and closing line- is a phrase that popped into my brain one day like a revelation and stuck. not as if it's being dislodged now- but i thought this may be the place (or one of the places) to use it.
"the wrong candidate" to me is McCain. he was there in the original draft 'cause i just figured 'well fuck it, i'm just gonna say exactly what i mean.' but then i thought about it a little more, and i want the poem to be more accessible. i know there are undecided people. and of course there are people who feel the same way about Barack Obama... although obviously they're wrong and i'm right (sarcasm?).
...
oh, i know i could be totally wrong (i really don't think i am), and McCain could be right for the job, but 'President McCain' never sat right with me, even before i knew that much about him; plus now there's Sarah Palin who scares the ever loving piss out of me.**
but anyway that's not what the poem is really about. when i think about the future, i do it with hope... but hope is small, and shrinking in the shadow of fear. the panic level rises a tiny bit every day, and it's getting harder to swallow down.
{{** roleplay: the Scarecrow has sprayed me with his fear gas and my terror-induced hallucination is that John McCain has been elected and pulled a Benjamin Harrison- dead in office after like a month... and there is President Palin, leading the country even further up Satan's Butthole.))
------
ps: it just occurred to me that not everyone knows how to pronounce "Commack:" it's KOH-mack. i've heard people say COM-mack and that's wrong.
------
pps: fuck mccain.
whachu think?
Comments
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AWESOME!
a very intelligent and articulate write, also in your author's note, i loved where you said palin would lead the country further up satan's butthole, i too totally agree with you, for a person to believe so literally in the bible as she does, i do not want her at the 'wheel' of the country, it is a time for a change, and i am not terribly at ease with any candidate, but my vote goes for obama/biden...ps, the title is what got me to stop and read, i am glad i did, have a great day on your piece of the planet
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I love the title..
I'm not American, but I could feel your reluctance and fear for the future. It was an interesting read and the diverse images are very well connected. I won't shout my views here.. since I don't know the details of the situation, but I do agree with on much of the AN
-powerful write.
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i really lked this, it intrigued me, affirmed me, allowed me to relate, made me think, and yes Palin does scare the shit out of me, and so does McCain. they are not what this country needs right now. you thought the last eight years were bad, jesus what those two would do. a lot of good thoughts in there, especially the ones about the american dream. i think about that often, and as a people, i think we've been tricked into what it's supposed to mean now.
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really enjoyed reading your poem. certainly thought-provoking. go obama.
let's just hope that the american people as a whole will realize he's right for the job and elect him so he can turn our country back into what it was always supposed to be. 
best wishes
~shadowlyn
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