A Pledge of Allegiance

by James A. Gardner



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"In sanitoriums they laugh less and less,
 Less certain of cure. .."
  --W. H. Auden
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So he said to the men of Peniel, "When I return in triumph, I 
will tear down this tower." Judges 8:9 (NIV)
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From Weimar to Bryn Mawr?
Jesus did not advocate dem-aw-kracy.
In the House they've suggested
morality might turn your marriage around.
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The dragon will not let me stop playing.
About my cares she can do less and less.
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In the villas they cry more and more;
the grocery clerk ran off w/ the whore.
Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Verlaine ran
for the Fruit Loops, Toucan Sam slams the door.
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The dragon will not let me stop playing.
About my cares she can do less and less.
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I pledge allegiance to the flag
and the orthodox bone for which it stands;
 the comfort of the Peniel Revival;
A joy to organize your wife.
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13 April 1988
13 May 1996

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©1996, by James A. Gardner

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