by Greg LeGault
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| Marcus Jansen, “Rural America,” 2018. Oil enamels, oil stick, paper, cloth and spray paint on canvas. 50 x 74 inches. From the collection of Corrado and Christina. |
Back in the day
fifty years ago
flames lit the night
as cities glowed.
Brother turned on brother
black on white
young on old
hawks on doves
chanting left on
canting right—
how terribly brief that
“Summer of Love.”
We raced into space
walked on the moon,
grieved when dreamers
were taken too soon
followed different drummers
with funkier beats
preached peace while running
wild in the streets
searching for answers
blowin’ in the wind—
“The old world will crumble
and a new one begin!”
And through it all each America gleaned
that it was pursuing the American Dream.
Comes the day
five decades on
the flames still burn
the Dream seems gone.
Brother turns on brother
every color fearing white.
Radical left
ultra-right
patriot versus patriot—
who is us and
who is not? We
race to the brink
dance on the edge
armed to the teeth,
at odds is an image
and what lies beneath;
tectonic plates always
pushing and shifting
united states
untethered and drifting.
We hold up a finger
in hopes we’ll begin
to find the hint of an answer
blowin’ in the wind.
Something to tell us that what we are seeing
isn’t the end of American dreaming.
Greg LeGault is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS.
