Fourth of July: A villanelle
To the editor:
July fourth’s fireworks have just begun
But it’s Jan. 6 this night invokes
Boom, boom. How many in the crowd brought guns?
Earth warms, hate grows, all compromise is shunned
The dark sky fills with forest fire smoke
July Fourth’s fireworks have just begun
How many here jeered June Nineteenth just done?
Or think what’s happened since Emancipation work?
Boom, boom. How many in the crowd brought guns?
The rockets’ glares are not what leave us stunned:
It’s truth ignored; mob violence provoked
July Fourth’s fireworks have just begun
Around our flag are fabrications spun
That belie the unity it should invoke
Boom, boom. How many in the crowd brought guns?
I fear the noise that numbs our good intentions
And the false, blind flares of ignorance it stokes
July Fourth’s fireworks have just begun
Boom, boom. How many in the crowd brought guns?
James B. Kobak, Jr.
Keene Valley