Author's Note July 4, 2024: Coming back to this, several months after I dropped it on the page, to see if I can take some part and make it into a poem (because right now, it is not one on its own). My philosophy has not changed. But I'd like to do something with the images. I will have to rethink on this.
__________________________________________________
It’s complicated, really, it began so long ago,
while bent over a bin of gourmet ice cream, scooping
it out for a customer: “Don’t you believe in company
loyalty?” And I had to tell him, no. “I am not loyal
to groups,” I said. “I am loyal to people.”
And while that probably wasn’t the ideal thing
to say to the boss (who was dating the owner’s
daughter) it made me think decades later
why I would never burn the flag. You see, it’s not
because of the history, per se, and it’s not because
of what it stands for. It’s not the immense plastering
of banners stuck on bridges, teak shadowboxes
of democracy caught behind a smudged sign that says
“Do not touch.” It’s not some kind of philosophy,
or superstition, or guilt. It’s always about the people—
literal people who died for something meaningful,
something truthful and worthy—even if they’re still alive.
It’s the family I care about, ones who survived the shelling,
who came home delicate and sad. It’s the people I love
who hold hands to hearts because they still believe in equality
and equity. I respect the flag for mothers who have to give up
their only sons, who sacrifice their daughters and lose
to war those last frayed threads we parents have
when children are grown, determined to “make
a difference” or “make something of themselves.” And so
if someone close asks me, “Do you hate your country?
You don’t like the Pledge of Allegiance,” I give the same
answer I gave long ago, or something somewhat similar:
I am not loyal to companies, or flags, or organizations.
I don’t care about some spot on a map that you might call
call a country. I am not sworn to groups, or collectives,
or anything called ideology. But I will mouth the Pledge
for you, my loves, and anyone else who earned it—because
what you gave me I can never return, and it is you whom I will honor.
You, I would never betray. You I would give my life for. And for you,
I will say again and again—you matter. And so do people.
And if anyone ever awkwardly asks you whether I am patriotic,
feel free to tell them, no. Tell them, instead, I wouldn’t burn the flag,
but I will speak up for justice. And for that, feel free to also say loudly
that I’m a Mediterranean American warrior. And if they don’t get it,
well—that’s on them. It’s all they need to know.
Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt, copyright March 11, 2024, all rights reserved
Posted in Katherine's Coffeehouse, Poetically Speaking
