Kitbash Country

by Chris Morrison

butchering the work of James Baldwin & Samuel Francis Smith & Ethel Cain & Clark Kent 

I love America more than any other country in the world  

and exactly for this reason  

i insist on the right to criticize her perpetually. 

i can’t really say that with confidence but I feel compelled to think it’s true

that somewhere in this sweet land of liberty the promise is real 

for even one person. 

and that might make me a fool who’s  

putting too much faith in the make believe 

but I’d much rather believe in a dream than a nightmare 

in a better tomorrow for everyone. 

how many better tomorrows come at the cost of a horrible yesterday?

was each of them a red heart taken by the American dream? 

this is not the land where my fathers died

but its roads are still paved in blood sweat and tears on my behalf. 

there’s no room for truth or justice in this American way. 

terrible, terrible things done in the name of our father God, author of liberty. 

is any of it worth saving? 

yes. i think so. a million times over. 

our Chinese food isn’t Chinese and our Mexican food isn’t Mexican

and our baseball games are too long and our healthcare is too shallow

and our measurements are nonsensical and our laws are full of loopholes and

i insist on the right to criticize her perpetually 

and exactly for this reason  

I love America more than any other country in the world.