America, you ode for reality!
Give back the people you took.Let the sun shine again
on the four corners of the worldyou thought of first but do not
own, or keep like a convenience.People are your own word, you
invented that locus and term.Here, you said and say, is
where we are. Give backwhat we are, these people you made,
us, and nowhere but you to be.Robert Creeley, “America”
Look at him there in his stovepipe hat,
His high-top shoes, and his handsome collar;
Only my Daddy could look like that,
And I love my Daddy like he loves his Dollar.The screen door bangs, and it sounds so funny–
There he is in a shower of gold;
His pockets are stuffed with folding money,
His lips are blue, and his hands feel cold.He hangs in the hall by his black cravat,
The ladies faint, and the children holler:
Only my Daddy could look like that,
And I love my Daddy like he loves his Dollar.William Jay Smith, “American Primitive”
