We're good at wasting time, aren't we Americans? The 20 oz. coffee is good,
Good for tramping around the bookstore, ogling all the spines we'll never crack,
Our kids deep in duck water every September, old guys on pond ice in December.
We slide away. A decade since our national Tisha b'Av,
And we defend our right to incandescent bulbs,
Don't wash our hands in the men's room any more
Or let that other schmuck enter our exit lane.
Spooked by strangers, magically safe around germs and cars.
Our F.D.N.Y. T-shirts and Roman sandals look good on us.
Memorials on the news look good to us.
We send our children to Sunday School, bagels and sugar water in book bags.
No wonder the country suffers failure of appetite.
And then what, on the radio? God bless Paul
Switching out "Bridge Over Troubled Water" for "Sounds of Silence"
By the falls of New York City water.
God bless the boy who gave to Somali famine relief.
God bless grownup children and children growing up.
exactly
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