Avuncular Sam

(for America’s anniversary)

Believe it or not, I have changed.

Once I revered a crown.

Later, I served an army

that hated taxation

to the degree cats

loathe baths.

Believe it or not, I have changed.

Once I supported royals.

Later, I became loyal to a democracy

that, even to this day, is like a gate

protecting white men

from Blacks, Natives,

and women across this broad nation.

Believe it or not, I have changed.

Once I was bound to blue bloods.

These days, I dispense rights

to those my kind ignored,

as if each amendment cost a million dollars

during an economic depression.

Believe it or not, I have been changing.

I changed. I did change.

(Don’t let lemon-sour facts ruin palatable lies.)

I was changing.

 (You may speak until I deem your words unlawful.)

I had changed.

(History is like a hit song. My version of the past sells.)

I had been changing.

(Why question what I won’t allow you to alter?)

I will change.

(You don’t need sight or insight.  I will tell you how my opinions see things.)

I will be changing.

(Eat the narcotic-flavored pie. Bite into the slice that makes everything nice.)

I will have changed.

(What do you mean my Kool-Aid in ghettos is causing death?)

I will have been changing.

(We have the best nation. Statistics are lies from leftists.)

I changed. I did change.

(My prison-restrictive rules assist your freedom.)

I was changing.

(I had changed.)

I had been changing.

(I will change.)

I will be changing.

(I will have changed.)

I will have been changing.

Damn it, I am your uncle,

and I am not deranged.

~~~

 by Bob McNeil

Copyright 2026

~~~

Flexible Press published Bob McNeil’s book composed of essays, illustrations, poems, and stories titled Compositions on Compassion and Other Emotions. Proceeds from this work fund the National Alliance to End Homelessness.