Ah, Americans

welcome to admitting
you belong under the flag
of scarlet
bone and
vein

unwitting
stamp of pain
for many (leading to comfort
for others on a bed of skins
and feathers)

when you went overseas
that one time
and claimed to be
Canadian to avoid being associated
with the loud couple on the first floor

no one was fooled

and they sneered at you

ah, Americans

best defined
as

impatient
and dedicated to the proposition
that everything
can be found in

either/or

so if you aren’t like them
(demanding the room they desired
and embarrassed by the bidet
they didn’t pay to have that in their room
no sir)

you must not be them

but you are, you are
from your sneakers to your nerves
at the maze of small streets

what if you got lost
and couldn’t speak the language?

(and you couldn’t)

what if you were shown to be
idiots
out of place in the old world?

(and you were, you were)

who wouldn’t be able to tell?

who in the street wouldn’t know at once
that you at last
understood
what it means
not to fit in?

who wouldn’t see
the flag
in your frightened
faces?