America

America

I am homesick for an America
That I never saw
May never see again

Sitting here freezing my ass off
In position, in my apartment
I recall what is gone 
Witness what never was

This beloved story that grew 
in sun-dappled fields
Captured by a delayed shutter
Overexposed and undefined

I am homesick for an America
That raised me up and now
Strikes me down

Maybe there is nothing new
under this westering sun
Our history gnaws at us 
slouching cruel
red of tooth and hand

The ceremony of innocence is shot dead
And now it is before you—
A table laid by a false god
Gold and glittering beneath the Mount
Bruised clouds gather overhead 

I am homesick for an America 
Where the dogwoods bloom
Unburdened in quiet hollows
And I
Dream of a land 
on the wing of birdsong