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Monday, January 08, 2007

A POEM WITHOUT SIDES

by David LaBounty


Imitation
is the sincerest form of flattery
and there are walls around
Bethlehem and Jericho
and nothing is too holy
so don’t be surprised when
you wake up on some bright
and sunny and cloudless
morning as the mourning
doves
are singing from the eaves and
the power lines to find the
sight of men in green putting
up a wall around your town,
your city,
your country,
and don’t be surprised,
when you turn on the TV
to try to understand it all
that some pretty young
girl with a skirt and legs
behind her anchor desk
will tell you, she’ll tell
you the wall is only there
to keep you
safe.


David LaBounty's poetry appears in Four Volts, Boston Literary Magazine, The Verse Marauder and in upcoming issues of Autumn Sky Poetry and Pemmican. He served in the navy for four years and has worked as a miner, a mechanic, a reporter and a salesman.