Duty to God and Country
Your
Mother
works
from dawn ‘till dusk
Shaving
thorns from roses,
While
your Father
is
a shoe-shine man
(which
calls for awkward poses).
While
he spits on toes and wipes on heels,
his
squatting stature there reveals
a
tattoo
of
a thousand men
dressed
up as GI Joes
marching
through a restaurant
and
kicking mashed potatoes.
Continuing
around his side
(though
you may not see them)
they
march on to his belly
where
the scene if filled with mayhem.
With
a mighty hand, a metal man
mashes
soldiers when he can
and
drives those dressed-up Army men
(gravy
shoes on their toes)
past
your Mother, sitting there,
(the
stickers shaved from her rose)
to
your Father’s Shoe Shine Shop
for
polished
mashed potatoes.
Friends Committee on National Legislation