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Patriotism – a poem by Edwin Romond

Edwin Romond

Arlington National Cemetery / credit: Patrick Kelley, U.S. Coast Guard. Public domain.
Arlington National Cemetery / credit: Patrick Kelley, U.S. Coast Guard. Public domain.

“The Pentagon has acknowledged that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did not sign condolence letters to the families of soldiers killed in Iraq but instead used a signature machine.”
–The Washington Post, December 19, 2004

D-o-n-a-l-d R-u-m-s-f-e-l-d
that’s 14 letters,
a lot to write,
takes effort
especially
that upper case “R”
I mean
it’s not like writing an easy “L”
as in Lincoln.
He’d have to move his pen
down
go back up
make a loop>
then move it
down again.
That takes work
and how much
can you ask
one man to give
up for his country?
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Edwin Romond

Edwin Romond's most recent poetry collections are Dream Teaching
and Alone with Love Songs. He lives in Wind Gap, PA with his wife, Mary, and their son, Liam. His website is www.EdwinRomond.com.

Author: Edwin Romond Tags: poetry, politics, war Category: Poetry January 25, 2012

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Empty Mirror

Established in 2000 and edited by Denise Enck, Empty Mirror is an online literary magazine that publishes new work each Friday.

Each week EM features several poems each by one or two poets; reviews; critical essays; visual art; and personal essays.

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