Once a year at least
the self-anointed
tear ideas off library shelves,
padlock the gates of celluloid visions,
strip museum walls so
children can’t see what
their ancestors have done
Once a year at least
they parade their rusty cavalcades
through strip-mall towns,
flags snapping aside august sedans
for life and liberty,
past alleys that once were deer runs,
past sewers that once were streams,
past:
BILLIONS OF HAMBURGERS SOLD
GUARANTEED USED CARS
FOURTH OF JULY SALE-O-RAMA
SHOPPING CENTER COMING SOON
and all their other obscene signs