After This

I’d start
with leaving the old flag
in the hands of those
who masturbate with it.

I want a smaller country
with fewer thieves,
fewer predators;
a country where we share disgust

over the same predations
and thefts. I want a deeper morality
that holds more water
than just good and evil

sloshing back and forth —
one that rotates like a bowl
of tides and if something 
goes over the side,

we know what to do
for whoever gets flooded.
I want a hole to put
all the holy books in

and see what grows 
from where they decompose.
If we let one god in
we let all gods in

and let them do
what they can for us, 
not the other way around — 
I want shackles on any gods

we choose to entertain.
I want to sit on a cliff’s edge
and enjoy the still-clear air.
I want to drink clean water,

sit safely by the side of any stream.
In that country, let love be unrestricted
and hate be reserved. Let joy be a currency
and anger be reserved. Let care

be a duty and neglect
be reserved — in fact
let all that we’ve lived on
and through

be reserved for reference only
after this is done, 
after this is over,
after this has finished happening,

or even now.