Star-Spangled Banner
A betrayal
to stand
with your hand
over your heart
and sing
the song
of the country
occupying
your country
to read every star
on the flag
above
your country’s flag
and see the last one
there: small, white
and pointed
stitched into the blue
with a thin thread
as if
it has always
been that way
as if
it can never
be undone.
Credit
Originally published in Black Renaissance Noire. Copyright © 2013 by Brandy Nālani McDougall. Used with the permission of the poet.
Author
Brandy Nālani McDougall
Brandy Nālani McDougall is a Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Hawaiʻi, Maui, and Kauaʻi lineages) poet raised on the slopes of Haleakalā on Maui. She holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Oregon and a PhD in English from the University of Hawaiʻi
Date Published
01/01/2013