Reuters photo
By
Laura Atanacio Edington
2018
It’s the Fourth of July
but my patriotism
died on the floor
of a small cage
covered by foil blankets.
A terrible science fiction has taken hold.
Light the bottle rockets.
Sit through hot parades.
Your conscience,
like a small child,
sits on your shoulders
silently weighing your actions.
Drink your beer,
eat your hotdogs,
the nearest danger being the sparkler in the hands of a child.
That child who will sleep tonight
on a real bed,
with a real blanket
with real parents.
Instead of feeling proud,
we should be filled with shame.
Laura Atanacio Edington
Laura Atanacio Edington is a retired educator who loves to write, read, travel, and binge watch various television shows. She has been published in the second edition of F(r)iction, Northeastern A&M’s Portmanteau I and II, and the Oklahoma Writer’s Federation’s Report. Her fiction and poetry have been recognized in various contests with F(r)iction and OWFI. She is an active member of OWFI and SCBWI and has been fortunate enough to workshop with such poets as Tony Hoagland, Taylor Mali, Nathan Brown, Ilya Kaminsky, Bob Franke, and David Biespiel. Laura, her husband Jerry, and their dog Sophie live in Miami, Oklahoma when they’re not out roaming the world.
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