26 May 2013

Victory Parade (poem)

(This poem was written at the Refugee Processing Center in Morong, Bataan, Philippines, in the summer of 1991.)

Stand and cheer, jump and shout
America is great again
Shower the streets with your confetti
Throw your yellow ribbons
See the conquering hero come
Our hometown heroes returned from abroad
Bringing the laurels and the gold
From the victory we’ve won
Don’t worry about “collateral damage”
Or the Kurdish and Shiite refugees
Whom we’ve betrayed
Rejoice that our new world order is safe
And America is free at last
From the ghost of Viet Name
Blow your horns and bang your drums
Unfurl your flags and hold them high
Bring the kids to the glorious parade
Tell them to be proud of what we’ve done
As the returning champions march
Down the avenue paved
With two hundred thousand
Iraqi bodies

No comments: