Green fields with white lines
mark the marching band’s time
as two rows of three
bright white lights
glare back balefully.

Teenage players push the lines
measuring their manliness,
but it never really moved me
as much as it moved the herd of kids
I grew up with.

So now after they cut the arts,
they debate whether to
cut the yards
that students run through.

After they cut the children’s
one hours of freedom
to create and daydream,
now they want to cut
the football team.

In a hillbilly town
that is where the
white line is drawn,

cause you can take the arts
cut the quivering heart
of creativity
that helps us learn
how to solve problems
uniquely,

but you can’t cut
the concussion causing
sports team,
that would be redneck
heresy.