Tonight's Poet Corner: To Outsmart A Dictator

To Outsmart A Dictator
by Belinda Roddie

I painted a picture of me burning
an American flag, and since it's not
the same as actually burning an American
flag, I didn't get my citizenship yanked away
from me like an ice cream cone. Fancy that!

I made fun of the president, but I oh, so
very slightly, changed his last name - an
extra vowel here, a new consonant there -
so if I ever got arrested for sedition, I'd shrug
and reply, "I don't know why the president
thinks it's about him. Is that his name? That's
not his name. Not everything is about you,
Mister President. Grow a pair and grow up."

I bought an aerosol can and sprayed fireworks
along the overpass so the fourth of July could
feel like mine again. My independence hangs
in the balance, traveling through loop holes and
seeking shortcuts. If you play the game right,
this country's still yours to verbally ream if
you feel like it deserves to be. I'm an artist,
and honesty's a part of my diet. Without it,
I'm malnourished, and even with - no. Especially  
with a wannabe tyrant stumbling through
the motions, I'm famished, and I must feast.