{"id":643,"date":"2022-09-22T16:31:56","date_gmt":"2022-09-22T20:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pensivejournal.com\/?p=643"},"modified":"2022-09-22T16:31:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T20:31:56","slug":"in-the-present-state-of-witness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pensivejournal.com\/poetry\/in-the-present-state-of-witness\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Present State of Witness\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Strung out along the highway,\u00a0<br \/>\nwaving signs at grinning traffic,\u00a0<br \/>\nour little clot of protest\u00a0<br \/>\nsuffers under judgmental sun.\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nEven in shade we wilt and nod\u00a0<br \/>\nwith a greedy vegetable thirst.\u00a0<br \/>\nLocal cops cruise us and wave\u00a0<br \/>\nfrom air-conditioned vehicles\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nbraced with massive bumpers\u00a0<br \/>\nand armed with loaded shotguns.\u00a0<br \/>\nYou comment on every honk\u00a0<br \/>\nand friendly gesture, count\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nthe few rude middle fingers,\u00a0<br \/>\nnote that certain auto colors\u00a0<br \/>\nseem friendlier than others.\u00a0<br \/>\nLike kids on a boring road trip\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nwe pass the hot noon hour\u00a0<br \/>\nparsing tenor and baritone\u00a0<br \/>\nregisters of tooting horns.\u00a0<br \/>\nThe rare soprano or bass\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nconfounds our calculations\u00a0<br \/>\nbut amuses and alerts us\u00a0<br \/>\nto factors we can\u2019t account for.\u00a0<br \/>\nSo the protest protests itself\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nin the cool secret dark inside us.\u00a0<br \/>\nThe message of our signs exhorts\u00a0<br \/>\na more thoughtful and inclusive\u00a0<br \/>\nlifestyle, urbane and sculpted\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nin the finest Carrara marble.\u00a0<br \/>\nBut America\u2019s too ramshackle\u00a0<br \/>\nand nervous for such a vision,\u00a0<br \/>\nthe tattered pages of bibles\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [stanza break]\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>torn from tired old bindings\u00a0<br \/>\nand wafting across rock-hard sky,\u00a0<br \/>\nmiming and mocking angel wings.\u00a0<br \/>\nWe\u2019ll never escape the politics\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nof barbecued meat suffering\u00a0<br \/>\nas the thickest flavors must.\u00a0<br \/>\nWe\u2019ll never unravel every thread\u00a0<br \/>\nof that famous Confederate flag\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nflying against a thunderstorm.\u00a0<br \/>\nI watch you watching the traffic.\u00a0<br \/>\nWe look too small and irrelevant\u00a0<br \/>\nto punctuate the national text;\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nbut at least we hold our ground\u00a0<br \/>\nmore firmly than Charles the First\u00a0<br \/>\nheld England the moment before\u00a0\u00a0<br \/>\nhis head fell into a basket.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Strung out along the highway,\u00a0 waving signs at grinning traffic,\u00a0 our little clot of protest\u00a0 suffers under judgmental sun.\u00a0 \u00a0 Even in shade we wilt and nod\u00a0 with a greedy vegetable thirst.\u00a0 Local cops cruise us and wave\u00a0 from air-conditioned vehicles\u00a0 \u00a0 braced with massive bumpers\u00a0 and armed with loaded shotguns.\u00a0 You comment on every&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"issue":[9],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is 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