7th Annual Independence Day Poem

Casus Belli

Nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri,
quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.
(I am not bound over to swear allegiance to any master;
where the storm drives me I turn in for shelter.)
                                         —Horace

lest we forget the comedy of the commons:

democracy, the reciprocal ingratitude
of the nearly-aligned, requires, like religion,
a majority of believers, of people willing to sacrifice
individuality in the name of a supposed
greater good, willing to accept a position
subservient to certain chosen ones

wielding the majestic magic of the self-solemn authoritarian
subdivided into cells: there is no pride like ignorant pride

society is skewed toward attraction,
should focus more on repulsion

honorifics are a specious, demeaning echo of feudalism
we may be made to bend at knee and waist
but that doesn't mean we have to kneel and bow

even to one another

hope is an hallucinogen
to which we are all addicted—
who would forgo its enabling delusions?

adequate defenses, easily acquired
the redundancies that compensate for the inadequacies
the long-term effects of lowering the odds

liberty IS justice