By David Glick
It will be a grand and glorious day
when the poets of America
renounce their citizenship
over the failure of our fawning subservient government
to do the work of the people
rather than that of the monied elite
and in its place boldly proclaim the birth
of the Democratic Republic of Poetry.
Cries of hosanna will reverberate throughout the land
while the mega corporations will tremble
before the wit and power
of the poet’s pen and spoken word
and the super rich will huddle together in confusion
trying to make sense of this uprising of the spirit.
The feckless politicians will have fled the land
and a multi-colored flag with the word imagine
blazoned across a background of green
will flutter proudly over the commons.
School children will crowd into the public square
to await these new heroes of the revolution
who will arrive in rickety old school buses
gaily decorated with flowers and trees
and the poetry of Rumi and Hafiz
Rilke and Whitman
Carl Sandburg and Langston Hughes,
Billy Collins, Mary Oliver and Rita Dove.
Balloons and kites will tussle playfully in the air
and horses will kick up their heels
as a marching band trumpets blaring
welcomes the new day.
In the Democratic Republic of Poetry
immigrants will be celebrated
for their rich culture and hard work
and their unique ways of engaging the world.
In the Democratic Republic of Poetry
school children will learn verses before numbers
will plant gardens and dig in the earth
and learn history as seen from the view
of workers and farmers
the enslaved and colonized
and those whom history has marginalized.
Poets, nurses, gardeners and craftsmen
will be lauded for helping us to weave together
the threads of our common humanity.
In the Democratic Republic of Poetry
scraps of verse scattered about the town
in the most unlikely of places
invite the passerby to stop and ponder
and the cook in the local cafe
is pleased when the tip jar
is stuffed full with poems of gratitude.
In the Democratic Republic of Poetry
theologians will cast aside dogma
in favor of free verse
and congregants will dance joyfully in the aisles.
The gifted and the simple
will learn from what each has to teach the other
and our poet laureates will rap jive to the monkeys in the zoo
who will clap excitedly and scream for joy.
In the Democratic Republic of Poetry
poets will gather in the public square
to converse on matters of concern
with passion and civility
and infuse our political discourse
with rhythm and rhyme
love and beauty
sorrow and suffering
justice and understanding
until a consensus is reached
whose harvest is peace
and what is best for the common good
and the life of the planet.
In the Democratic Republic of Poetry
tourists will be greeted at the border
with song and poems of welcoming
and citizens will be issued passports
stamped with the poetry of the places they have visited
that have enriched and deepened their lives.
Copyright December 27, 2011 by David Glick. All right reserved.