It is good to know
That in these troubled and confusing times
When old values are under attack,
When what we hold dear
Is mocked and undermined
By those who have no respect
For the venerable ideals,
The policies and practices,
Of American democracy
That have stood this nation in good stead
Through trial and tribulation,
Through unrest and upheaval,
Through multiple wars
And challenges to our hegemony,
It is good to know
That those finely-crafted
Highly developed techniques
Of civil and social discipline
As American as, oh,
Genocide, slavery, lynching,
Suppression of dissent,
That those undeniably effective,
Satisfying,
And invaluable means
Of exercising our rightful authority
Are still in use at our southern border
Where inconsiderate people
Eager to avail themselves of the advantages
Of this God-favored land
Are being whipped and beaten
To teach them a lesson
About the distribution of privilege
In our world,
About who are the deserving
And who the undeserving,
About how we deal with those
Seeking to take advantage
Of our famous kindness
And get a free pass to enter
Our sweet land of liberty.
Buff Whitman-Bradley’s poems have appeared in numerous print and online journals. His most recent book is At the Driveway Guitar Sale: Poems on Aging, Memory, Mortality, from Main Street Rag Publishers. He podcasts poems on aging at thirdactpoems.podbean.com and lives with his wife, Cynthia, in northern California.