‘Watching’

Sitting in America
the sense of disregard
rampant and alive
would that we thought
and wondered
or cared

Sitting in America
McDonald’s-land my home
sipping modest coffee
observing modest life
sweet diversity
but broken

Sitting in America
the nation of your placement
of this life
whose country is displacement
there or here
sojourning

Sitting in America
land of the (I’m) right
and the (you’re) wrong
cynical fear masked in words
words of nothing
words of

Sitting in America
forlorn in my, our, its (the) state
of the soul
defeat in victory
laughter of one
whose name is lie.

Sitting in America
beauty in multiplicity of
faces—disfigurement in voices
sitting in the milieu
watching
Exhausted.

© R. Douglas Messer, 2010

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R. Douglas Messer lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, with his wife and four children. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University (B.A. Political Science) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.A. Religion). He currently serves as a pastor at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville.

Original Artwork, “America, As Is,” © Anna K. Messer