Red-blooded Ode to Your Freedom

Do you like my outfit, bro?

I wore red, white, and blue

to pose in the mirror athletically.

My coworker complimented my arms

because I’m always sleeveless

reaching above my head for no reason.

Did you notice I’ve been working out?

I swear I can be your good sport:

It’s possible I owe the government half

a million dollars or my life expectancy.

When you hum National Anthem

the vibrations shake opposite corners

of this gorgeous country, my split molar

and the fleshy gap between my lungs.

The only thing I love about America is you

and your delicious freedom to ignore me.

Joe Nasta (ze/zir) is a queer writer and mariner based in Seattle. Joe is one half of the art and poetry collective Eat Yr Manhood with Cass Garison. Zir first book can be read for free on issuu and zir work has been published in The Rumpus, Entropy, PRISM International, Peach Mag, and others. Ze co-curates a zine of unconventional art and writing at stonepacificzine.com and is currently part of the 2022 Collective Autonomy in Practice Cohort with the Operating System/Liminal Lab.

Note: This poem was previously published in Good Afternoon -- Note in a Bottle 4 on Medium