4th Annual Independence Day Poem

At All Costs

We, among the most politically naïve people on earth,

forget that

a vote is predicated upon preference,

not correctness;

we forget the vital idea of the Declaration of Independence,

that every authoritarian, every tyrant,

rules through the consent of the governed

and bureaucratic interference;

we repeat redundant battles in the old war of Reason against Terror

where the soldiers constantly switch sides

and the casualties fall complicit

while we turn blind toward the motives

of those who will do what we are unwilling to:

exchange our rational nation

for rationalization.

            Without the personal arrogance of freedom,

            liberty is a cynical tease;

            where there is no consequence,

            there is no control

            and the instincts of bandits and sycophants go unconquered.

            Our blades are dull and the dogs grow bold.
            At all costs, be insubordinate.