Teacher back home, maid in America.
He sold tusks and jade in America.
Our business is business. Get rich from cars,
sex, or lemonade in America.
Confederate banners and misspelled signs.
White rage on parade in America.
Here for a two-week trip, she fell in love,
chucked her career. Stayed in America.
Who needs free health care when we have bootstraps?
Doctor bills cascade in America.
Kudos to cowboys, scrappy kids with plans.
We love the clichéd in America.
Easier when blood’s somewhere else. Men plan,
war sharpens its blade. In America,
skin, faith, and genitals matter. Brits take
the piss, we throw shade in America.
Teenage girls were paid to fake ecstasy
when The Beatles played in America.
Removed from their village and familiar
sky, their marriage frayed in America.
Some teens get rifle, rations. Others, keg
party, panty raid. In America,
college stretches childhood, adds booze. Stars
and vagrants are made in America.
Our upper lips aren’t stiff. We emote,
confess, wail, tirade in America.
No wings or white light. Near-death, she relived
her teen escapade in America.
Every desire’s yours, for a price. What
would you give? What trade? In America,
gold lining the city streets is piss. Bright
picket fences fade in America.
Rutstein stripped off by Ellis Island guards.
My true name mislaid in America.