by Mehvish Ally
my America is waves of cold milk
splashing about with globs of sticky sweet sugary
cereal that rot your teeth as fast as they put a smile on your face
the lingering diesel from the exhaust pipe of
a yellow school bus puttering away deliberately
picking up small parcels of children of various colors shapes and sizes
my America is the Wheel of Fortune
followed by Jeopardy! (with Alex Trebek!)
the crisp fragrant crimson leaves of dogwoods
and poplars in a heap waiting to be jumped in
my America is the Shenandoah Valley's
vivacious curves and dips,
the Appalachian’s kudzu invasion
and twangs of a dulcimer
a winter so cold your nose hairs freeze
when you inhale the sharp but invigorating air
my America eats from my turmeric-stained hands
and fine bone china
and drinks my sweet chai
steeped in cinnamon and cardamom
offering a cup all the while of fresh coffee
reminding you of the real Boston Tea Party
with its acerbic bite of mavericks in costume standing up for their rights
my America is carnivals brimming with funnel cake
dusted in white where you could never quite win that overpriced
and otherwise unappealing toy
a land founded by complicated
rebels with wooden teeth
my America is soft Bengali guttural Arabic
and rhythmic Sanskrit tones broken by Latin hymnals
earthy Gaelic and syllables chewed with grit
an alchemical fragrance of a southern belle’s magnolias
bonding precariously with royal Mughal jasmines
hanging together in a heady summer heat
my America secures the Blessings of Liberty to herself and her posterity
her colossus welcomes the tired poor masses yearning to breathe
free
