Kendall Merriam: The Flag of a New Nation
For Liz
Wouldn’t it be great
If we could take the colors
Of this $6.46 meal
Pale green soup
Yellow corn muffin
Cream-colored soy milk
Rich brown lemon splash tea (iced)
And make a new flag
Without those symbols of war
Reds, blues and stars
A nation that does not march
Into wasting battle
We could buy billions of pencils
For scholars around the world
Pay $6.00 fees for school uniforms
Made of cotton—not Kevlar
We would appoint you
Chef-in-Chief
Far more important than President
Or Sec Def
You would be able to feed the world
The most important thing
Teaching everyone to read and write
Poetry, stories, plays
About real things
The goodness of soup, the goodness of bread
No marching in military parades
Just parades of characters from books
Made with imagination and papier mache
Saying “Support Our Cooks”
Instead of “Support Our Troops”
If we hung around restaurants and cafes
Eating and sipping
Instead of shooting in Afghanistan and Iraq
Or on those “War Breeders”
Deadly computer games
That kill the minds of the young
When they should be climbing ledges
Along the shore of Owls Head
Or looking for sea glass on Dick’s Beach
Killing one man or woman
Kills two souls
The victim, the shooter
It is not part of God’s plan
Metal is for jewelry
And automobiles (bright yellow of course)
Not for bullets, planes, bombs
Life could be so good
We have the resources
We have the talent
Why is the boat drifting so badly?
What is this desire for power?
Does it make one live longer?
I think not
It is much more pleasant
To sit in the Hardcover Café
Hear confident voices
See interesting and attractive people
Why do the Big Shots
Of Beijing, Washington, Delhi and Moscow
Think evil, harm people
You know, Liz
Jefferson would say we need
A revolution
I think you have a better idea
No one could fire a gun
While eating your delicious soup
And corn muffins, casually sipping tea
If we could get the warriors of the world
In here, relaxing for a change
Maybe we would make the world
Safe for vichyssoise
All of us would feel better
Read books outdoors
And put away guns forever
Kendall A. Merriam, July 2007, At the Hardcover Café, Rockland
Event Date
Address
United States