America is…………

America Is…….**

America Is…………  
The Financial District crosswalks that become piano keys  
in the syncopated hustle of the pedestrian light  

The redheaded clown in a Raggedy Ann dress holding five red balloons,  
heading to a gig in Hell’s Kitchen, noticing rainbow-striped reflections  
in the plate glass of a bank lobby window  

The shadow woman who walks her dog through the green night  
of Bourbon Street heat  

Elvis ascending the polka dot staircase of Graceland,  
still glittered with echoes  

The East Village children in the school yard watching the lonely man  
drinking his coffee in the Dunkin’ Donuts across the street  

The man watching the children back—  
thinking about whether or not to use his gun  

Gay and straight couples dancing together under  
the red-green strobes of a South Beach disco  

The Tribeca hard hats in rising steel scaffolding,  
hooting at all the 10s passing below them  

The red and blue glow erupting in the D.C. subway  
each time a train slips in or out of shadow  

The undocumented L.A. migrant hesitating to go  
looking for an honest day’s work from the flatbed truck  
in the back end of the Home Depot parking lot  

The carny at the Iowa State Fair pitching  
for one last mark to dunk the clown  
beneath the jaundice twilight  

The urban cowboy watching  
the Great Blue sink and float  
in The Dallas World Aquarium  

The black suits chasing after  
the Bulls and Bears of Wall Street  

And somewhere in Nebraska,  
a girl ties a tiny flag to her pet cricket Liberty,  
and whispers to it to tell the world  
we’re trying.

Poet’s statement:

America Is……. was written in response to this year’s Fourth of July—at a moment when national identity feels increasingly complex and fractured. Through surreal and grounded vignettes, the poem reflects the contradictions of American life, holding space for both despair and fragile hope. It’s not a declaration—it’s a quiet observance from within the noise.