Sovereign
By Sherri Levek
Eight years
and I don't recognize
my country.
If I declare
my indignation
I am un-American.

Eight years
and I celebrate my birthday
with the memory
of levees breaking;
the population waiting
on rooftops for America
to rescue them.

Eight years
and I hear the condemnation
of torture and terrorism
while Guantanamo Bay
lurks in the background
with a hooded face.

Eight years
and friends who take
a trip to Spain
decide it is safer
to say they come
from Canada.

Eight years
and children
continue to recite
the Pledge of Allegiance
while the bombs
explode in Iraq.

Eight years
and I want my country back
from the corporations
who control it
and the administration
that has almost destroyed it.