It’s time to
pick a side
(& the
rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air)
Someone said
they shouldn’t have been there
(gave proof
through the night, that)
Shouldn’t
have been there, knee to neck
Shouldn’t
have been, tear gas & flare
Shouldn’t
have, knocked down head open & split
Sides picked
in the havoc of spit
& fake
twenty dollar bills, someone shouldn’t have been
There killed,
someone who shouldn’t have been there
Stoking rage,
black bible in hand upside down
(on the
shore, dimly seen through the mist of the deep)
(where the
foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes)
In dread silence
In dead
silence
In dead
Someone
shouldn’t have
Been there.