Consider the crowd
who rose upon cue
to thwart the intent
of laws which forbid
praying in public
before football games;
clever Christians vowed
to subvert our view
that nonbelievers
matter in settings
where comfort begins
with prayers by a few
which exclude each Jew,
Muslim and such whose
Constitution sorts
public from private
expressions of faith
just as they ought do;
upon a signal
from one fat fellow,
forever nameless,
there issued: Achoo!
prompting loud replies:
namely, God Bless You!
followed by loud cheers
from smiling smirkers
watching their ploy work
to make many cringe;
elsewhere thereafter
atheists mumble
when they pledge anew
to flags “Under God”
which flap near faces
they used to know well
as friends and neighbors
before being mean
defined “Patriot”
and “Spiritual”
did not yet include
acting so spiteful
protesting with glee
that gotchas seem good;
Falwell’s “Vote Christian”
Coulter’s “Baptize them
or kill them all now”
(regarding “sheet heads”
who are not Christians)
don’t equal “Sieg Heil”
but codes clearly call
to each chosen ewe
and rams in the flock
who devise protests
which circumvent laws
designed to protect
those who dare eschew
saying: God Bless You!
then pledge allegiance
the old-fashioned way;
few folks want to be
the odd man out there,
so, most swallow pride
in feelings they hide
and pretend to be
part of the kewl crowd,
but now and then, one
shouts: that king is nude!