Children on parade, 4th of July...(2001)
poem by Peter Menkin
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The girl scouts wore silly hats,
one an emerald green overly large
with a brim as in top hat. More.
One satisfied mother pulled along
a boy
in a decorated red wagon, replete
with red, white, blue ribbons
on the wheels. The congresswoman
sat on the back seat of the car,
listening to the constituents
on the avenue; they hailed.

Some people paraded
dressed as cats, long felt black tails. The library
consisted of fanciful groups in their
atire, like the butterfly angel girl.

Mostly the July 4th parade, at around noon
saw a rocketship, "made by someone's father"
the woman on the curbside grass told
her small son and daughter.
The rocket ship was filled with children,
four, and powered by a revolving
bubble blowing series of instruments
creating a trail. An obelisk, black,
taller than a fire truck by two or three,
had preceeded the device, having
the American flag flat on one side.

The woman next to me, spent the time
holding and loving her children,
and her small son spelled "parade."
His sister was patient.

There were dogs. Beautiful ones.

The ring master
was, I think,
the cub scout of the year.
He sat up on the back seat
of a cream color car,
carried along in line.

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