why does it seem
these awful days
that those who wear
the moniker of woke
are the most asleep
in their daily routine
dad was fond
of reminding me
when he was inebriated
how on the morning
of my birth on the day after
the fireworks of the fourth
there were men like him
in the same hospital
just a few wards over
in the throes and pangs
of losing their eyes
their fingers and
other appendages
from the drunken
manhandling
of cylindrical m-80s
roman candles
and various other types
of explosive effervescent
illegal pyrotechnics
then he'd repeat
through a gulp
of an american pilsner
and the blue smoke
of his filter-tip winstons
how you can never
get drunk if you don't drink
so don't ever drink
that was his wisdom
now he's gone
and in this fraught
late hour of disclaimers
i've come to think maybe
with the accelerating
decay of the nation
and the rapid depleting
of the idea of the republic
by the most corrupt and
incompetent government
in our history enabled
by we the people that he might
somehow have been sent
to show me through
his example how easy
it is to be addicted
to nonsense
to be foolish
to refuse to see
what's right in front
that's about to blow up
in your face
like a country
or a class
or a race
laughing at
armageddon
more likely though
he had nothing
of the kind in mind
at best was only
fumbling through what
he could not even guess
and now at the edge
from the perspective
of the eons of time
we seem to be just moments
after the first independence day
and the party's over
and our collective
addiction too deep
to diagnose
to make stop