republican devotion
4 March 2005
Corpus Christi, Texas
two hundred and forty million citizens,
yet we can barely man ten divisions,
thank god for men like captain dave rozelle,
lost a leg,—amputee,—goes to iraq,
i know war’s a horrible devotion,
mangles our finest bodies,—destroys minds,
but i remember a republic once,
fought multiple enemies,—punic wars,
every citizen was a soldier then,
with enemies at rome’s gate,—no one feared,
undefeatable as long as mothers
said, “¡come back wearing your shield, or on it!”
