piss stains on the wizard sheet
pulled from last night’s bed
southern clown
klansman gown
fearful eyes beneath a cutout pillowcase
boo inside a bigot’s head
black Bible talk behind white cloth
fervent credo
burning cross
cornered prey
rebel colors, flag of shame, undulating
waved in the presence of black bodies swaying
rectangular X impressed with stars
Confederate States who turned their backs
on equality
end to slavery’s willful scourge
Civil War
Union victory
servitude done away
Emancipation writ on a piece of paper
enacted into law
Freedom shouted from the ramparts
rung from bells of liberty…
less ardent in the backwoods though
crumbling neighborhoods, inner cities
where hypocrisy lurks
behind every tree
smile, door
thrives under the shadow of a flag whose Nation
we are told
was defeated
exists no more
***
By NEIL BROSNAN: Confederate X
Super