Why?

On July 4th, we celebrate
our Declaration of Independence
from a British King
and the birth of Democracy.

Yet as we gaze at the flag
through the sharp pops and booms
of firecrackers and cannonballs,
the ooo's and ahhh's and screams
fall flat.

The celebration stops short,
hanging awkwardly in mid air:
Our flag no longer stands
for what America has become.

Its a flag in search of its country,
a flag waving madly before our eyes,
flapping frantically in the wind
like a shrill slap in our face, crying,
"Look at me! Remember me!
Remember why you honor me!"

Days ago, Congress defeated
a flag-burning bill by only one vote.

The fact that the vote was so close
is appalling.

But more disgraceful
is why Republicans
are so concerned
about citizens destroying our flag --
which is nothing more or less
than a symbol of our country --
when they, daily, have been dismantling
the very laws and principles
of the country it represents.

Why do they worry about burning a flag
when our sons and daughters
are burning in a hell of their making,
fanned with lies and greed?

Why do they worry about a piece of cloth
embroidered with stars and stripes
symbolizing 'The United States of America' --
when they have done everything in their power
to undermine the very fabric of that union,
to cause divisiveness and hatred,
Blue State against Red,
Republican against Democrat,
neighbor against neighbor?

Why do they pretend that
the destruction of our flag matters?
The flag is already destroyed.

We need no laws against flag burning;
We need a new flag
to represent the new nation
we have chosen to become:

A new flag that is split in two,
half red, half blue.
A flag that is soiled and tattered,
its seams ripped from within.

We need a flag to symbolize
the nation we have built:
a nation of strife and hatred,
of selfishness and arrogance.

We need a flag that waves proudly
for corruption, and lies,
and flies only in secret places,
hidden from public view.

We need a flag that flutters and gasps
in the wind of our stolen elections.

We need a flag that wraps itself
like a shroud over the dead,
dismembered bodies of innocents.

We need a flag that is rent,
a flag at half staff,
mourning the death
of a great nation,
once free,
once proud,
once aspiring to justice
and compassion.

We need the flag of a dictator.
A king's flag.
The flag of a Scion,
an Emperor.

We need a flag that flies like a bully
in the face of every American
who longs for what used to be
and still longs for what could have been.

We need a flag that is put aside
and discarded like our laws
and our values and our votes.

We need a flag that weeps in the rain
over what she has lost
and thunders her rage to the heavens.

We need a flag
that as long as she continues to fly
over this once proud nation
asks one word over and over again--
until it is heard and answered.

One word,
One simple word:
Why?

© 2006 The Unknown Candidate

Technorati tags: Fourth of July, America, American Flag, Iraq, Bush, Justice, News, Commentary, op ed