Fuck Your Flag
A poem that is not patriotic because lives are more sacred than a piece of cloth
The flag is sacred
Symbol of this land
He says take away citizenship
For those who burn it
There’s no nuanced conversation
Just a lot of white liberals
Talking about their
Military family
And disrespect
It’s disrespectful to burn
The flag
But not to pay so low
Families at home are
On food stamps
It’s disrespectful to burn
The flag
But not to provide
Shoddy care to those
Who come home wounded
And even shoddier care
To those who become ill
Or disabled with age
You know what?
Fuck you and your military family
Who are trained to dehumanize
Who have a long legacy
Of raping and pillaging
Of stealing resources
Of snatching head scarves
Of torturing teen boys
Of shitting on holy books
And burning the flags of others
It’s disrespectful to burn
The flag
A damn piece of cloth
That means very little
In a country that voted
For a tyrant of newly grand
Proportions
A man who proudly wears
The Nazi flag
Hides himself in tall buildings
Where he never has to
See the homeless veteran
Begging on the corner
To be able to eat
Or sleeping in a doorway
Remember when citizenship
Was up for grabs?
When it could be revoked
By random decree?
You know the history we swore
We’d “never forget”
They waved flags then too
And talked about the honor
Of their soldiers
Soldiers who stripped people naked
Raped and pillaged
Beat sick people mercilessly
Treated their dogs better
Than their prisoners
Burned books and art
Burned libraries and museums
And homes
Burned the flags
Of others
Fuck your people
More concerned with
Their flag
Than with rightness or justice
And the values they claim
They fought for
Fuck your flag
