I promise an original photograph of the scene that inspired this poem when I have the misfortune, on my morning commute, to be stopped by a particular traffic light gone rouge. In the meantime, I have staged a digital re-enactment.

Each day I  wave at a happy, bearded, black man dressed in a statue of liberty suit
advertising 50% off the cost of services for a local tax prep establishment. And each day as I wave, I am struck by the absurdity of the image. Three days on, the words pinging in my brain cannot be contained a breath longer. Eye-witness photograph or not, I give you my thoughts in Quatern form…

Frank

Liberty’s a bearded fellow
hawking curbside business options.
Dark-skinned, donned in green patina,
smiling, waving at passers-by.

The sight exudes absurdity.
Liberty’s a bearded fellow,
a tool for greedy plutocrats’,
alternative reality.

Wand’ring from that golden gateway
to take your two cents to the bank,
Liberty’s a bearded fellow,
a doddered cross-dresser named Frank.

It’s a wee bit disconcerting,
Colossus taking to the streets,
saving drudge from tax collectors,
Liberty’s a bearded fellow.

Kat – 8 February 2017
(a Quatern)