I Never

I never thought it'd come to this

Truth as lies

Lies emblazoned

On a confederacy of dunces

I grow old without my trousers rolled

I never imagined so cold

An insurrection's unkenneled rage

The dying embers of another age

January 6 that old time Epiphany

Showing Three Kings and all that

I never saw

My eyes so closed

I never knew my pledge of allegiance

So hollowed out

I grow old, so old

I can't remember that boy

Palm over his heart

Reciting the flag-soaked prayer

In a classroom

Shadowed by Joe McCarthy

I never expected

He'd never die

We never escaped

That America

Did we