Can you hear the fireworks?
Those unrelenting cracks?
The 4th of July celebrations
The sound of a whip over an audiences’ backs
Can you smell the gunpowder?
That fumes the cold night air
The stench of politicians sweating
Pretending that they care
The idea of peace and freedom
An illusion shot once again
The white hot pain of a lie
Doomed never to end


Can you see the flags?
Red poppies staked in the ground
Plastic yellow daisys
Spread for miles around
The remains of melted chairs
Resting on four steel legs
Tables trying to hide
Where helpless casualties begged
The booming roar of thunder
As lightning tears through the air
One more six feet under
Dark red paint brushed by pieces of hair
One final crack again
The signal of an end
As silence fills the library
Yet the cycle starts again