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My Neighbor's Flag

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My Neighbor's Flag

Sharon Martin
Sep 16, 2023
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My Neighbor's Flag

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I’d like to ask my neighbor,

What does that flag stand for?

Southern culture?

I’m as southern as they come,

Accent,

Fried okra,

Grits I stir up for my husband.

All southerners aren’t alike, of course.

I don’t like grits,

and I don’t feel the need

to fly that flag.

So why? States’ rights?

Do you even know what that means?

What do you want your state to permit

that other states don’t?

Don’t answer that!

Either you’re pro-fetus

or you’re pro-open carry.

Oh, the irony of being

pro-life, perhaps except

For the death penalty,

and pro-shoot’em, if provoked.

OK, I’m making presumptions.

But really, what does that flag mean,

That you wish the south had won?

Is it pride, or the desire to be able

to put people in their place,

people you think are less than?

What the hell does that flag mean?

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My Neighbor's Flag

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A guest post by
Sharon Martin
Poet, writer, and believer in the will of the people! Her most recent books are Not a Prodigal, finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award, and I've Got the Blues: Looking for Justice in a Red State.
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