Citizenship is a vessel upon which I thought I was always going to ride
As I pledged Allegiance to a Flag that had bars and stars and a fraying edge
For years and years and years and years, over the loudspeaker or in an independent room
In homerooms and classes I placed a hand upon my chest
(not knowing where the heart might be, or what)
I know now that I am a diverger
One who gets close and then senses a strong polarity reversal and deceleration
Leading away, as the cardinal direction
I’ve grouped a few times and felt the radiation
Curie us rads with all the fixings of a power plant
So much energy, but never entirely clean burning
I even need to diverge from this breeze and from this sun
And then diverge from the darkness, from the must
But there is still a seed of pledging inside of me
It’s a nut that wishes to be cracked into a citizenship full of duty and familiarity
A flag that I can look at and hang from my window and tattoo on my chest
With a rose
A boxing day, observed
Bells, to call me to worship
But this seedy component is weaker with the passing years
As I find myself diverging from a part that rests inside of me
And perhaps it will finally pass through kidney and liver, to the solid or liquid beyond
And I will stop imagining and dreaming of a reality empirically not mine
Of a place and a people to which I’m enjoined
This passport and resume and about me section
Clearly articulate in historical terms, something that the present and future must accept
There will not be a Great Compromise
No combinatory setup algorithm potion
For that alchemical pledge
My unallied parties will continue late into the night
But there will be no coherence and certainly no invite
Thank you to all of you who will pledge to something
For it seems I have not figured out how to stamp my own passport
Or grow coffee beans
Or roast them for that matter
And it’s nice to be able to come to the party
With a little bit of a buzz
Or ride away
With a stamp and a look
Roman Ryan 