wet bathing suits and hot dogs with that "char-grilled" taste,
parades with tone-deaf bands and "declarations of independence",
shows of patriotism with panache.
Reds and whites mixed with the blues, and one-too-many beers at the fest.
Kettle corn and kiddie rides.
Uncle Sam on stilts, waves to the crowd in his cotton White beard,
throwing Gold foil-wrapped candy quarters to the children,
as they scatter like young soldiers dodging bullets.
Timmy drops his fruit punch as he runs to the front of the line,
and Johnny Boy drops to his knees on the front line as he takes one to the chest,
his blood flowing in cascades like Hawaiian Punch,
grasping his chest and the picture of Annie, as his dreams and his life slips away,
and he falls into the mud.
And somewhere far away...
carnivals with Gold-toothed carnies, let your kid ride for a quarter,
on the freedom train.
©2010∞Copperhead
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