Fourth of July

Freedom is a rocket,

isn’t it, bursting

orgasmically over

parkloads of hot

dog devouring

human beings

or into the cities

of our enemies

without whom we

would surely

kill ourselves

though they are

ourselves and

America I see now

is the soldier

who said I saw

something

burning on my

chest and tried

to brush it off with

my right hand

but my arm

wasn’t there—

America is no

other than this

moment, the

burning ribcage,

the hand gone

that might have

put it out, the skies

afire with our history.

Copyright Credit: John Brehm, “Fourth of July” from Help Is on the Way. Copyright © 2012 by John Brehm. Reprinted by permission of The University of Wisconsin Press.

Source: Help Is on the Way (University of Wisconsin Press, 2012)