50 Fiefdoms

The next thing you know we were 50 fiefdoms
a ragtag hodgepodge of extreme ideologies 
incapable of cooperation or compromise
connected only by crumbling autobahns 
with checkpoints where tollbooths used to be
protected proudly by a mishmash of militias
each with their own interpretation
of what constitutes a tyrannical government

And as I rolled past the Arch in what was once St. Louis 
I lamented for the umpteen thousandth time
how such pretty words could be so misconstrued
that such a beautiful experiment could fail
or even worse, that this was their intent all along
and I had lived a lie



Bryans Road, Maryland
7-1-2022