Primaries are coming up where I live so I have elections on my mind. One thing that always interests me is the campaign signs, banners, or flags that are still up after final elections in November–especially if the candidate lost the election. I wonder if they were forgotten or left up on purpose: now signs of lost hope or that people haven’t given up on their candidate. Whatever the reason, they stand out and make me think.
Next month, I hope to self-publish my next book, A Song of Glass: Dreams, Stories, and Poems. One of the poems will be “Flag,” a short meditation on a campaign flag I saw.
Flag
On the freeway,
I pass a flag:
washed out
blue background
snatches
of a faded slogan
shreds
where the politician’s name was
dying stars
around the border.
It’s been too long
in the constant winds of this place
tattering like someone’s dream
as they ripple awake.
A Wandering Minstrel 