by Jeremy Nathan Marks
Do the lookout oaks speak English
and remember George Washington
are the spotted beetles from Asia
that people mistake for Lady Bugs
harbingers of a polyglottal future
here in fortress America
Pennsylvania Dutch speak
German
children invent their own
pidgin
Jefferson thought in French
But it’s Spanish that’s spoken all around
the mountain’s foot where you can get a fade
a dye job a shave and look like
you just stepped out of De Leon’s fabled fountain
dripping with what was supposed to have been Florida
Not this Keystone State
No more for the Union Dead on a rainy train ride
to an Adams County graveyard in November
the battle has moved from Lincoln’s beard to the barrio
la bodega si, se puede
The DAR and descendants of Confederate
Veterans, they like their café con leche
se acabo.
Jeremy Nathan Marks lives in Canada for now but spent election day 2004 working in Reading, PA. Like many, he's watching the US election with nauseated optimism. You can follow him on Substack @sandcounties.