If you're a nation,
you need an anthem,
which comes with a flag.
Xenophobia's optional.
although it may not
seem so. Musicians
grind through the melodies
like millers making flour.
Anthems seem to take an hour
when you're waiting for the
game or match or memorial
to start. Hand over heart,
hat off, stand up if you can,
pretend to sing along
the way children do--all
up to you. In America's,
of course, bombs and rockets
go off in the midst of civil
war--which never ends.
People treat anthems with more
respect than they do humans.
hans ostrom 2022
