is orange. It is gallows on the Capitol Mall,
a pile of shit on Nancy Pelosi’s desk,
a hammer to her husband’s skull.
It wears a red tie hanging below its knees
and stores the nation's secrets
in Putin’s bathroom. It is one set of laws
for the rich and heads slammed
into police car roofs for the rest of us.
To the snobs who suggest plastic surgery
or even a little concealer, we say
Hell No! We like America’s face just fine!
Jon Wesick is a regional editor of the San Diego Poetry Annual. He’s published hundreds of poems and stories in journals such as the Atlanta Review, Berkeley Fiction Review, I-70 Review, Lowestoft Chronicle, New Verse News, Paterson Literary Review, Pearl, Pirene’s Fountain, Slipstream, Space and Time, and Unlikely Stories Mark V. His most recent books are The Shaman in the Library and The Prague Deception.