More on the Pledge

Trawling around (notice, this is not the same as trolling) blog explosion, I found this interesting poetic version of the Pledge posted on Fire Angel. I thought those who had clicked through and were interested in my recent posts on the pledge also might like a look at this interpretation:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag"--
They dragged him naked
Through the muddy streets,
A feeble-minded black boy!
And the charge? Supposed assault
Upon an aged woman!
"Of the United States of America"--
One mile they dragged him
Like a sack of meal,
A rope around his neck,
A bloody ear
Left dangling by the patriotic hand
Of Nordic youth! (A boy of seventeen!)
"And to the Republic for which it stands"--
And then they hanged his body to a tree,
Below the window of the county judge
Whose pleadings for that battered human flesh
Were stifled by the brutish, raucous howls
Of men, and boys, and women with their babes,
Brought out to see the bloody spectacle
Of murder in the style of '33!
(Three thousand strong, they were!)< "One Nation, Indivisible"--
To make the tale complete
They built a fire--
What matters that the stuff they burned
Was flesh--and bone--and hair--
And reeking gasoline!
"With Liberty--and Justice"--
They cut the rope in bits
And passed them out,
For souvenirs, among the men and boys!
The teeth no doubt, on golden chains
Will hang
About the favored necks of sweethearts, wives,
And daughters, mothers, sisters, babies, too!
"For ALL!"

Written by Esther Popel (1896-1958)