The Beautification Of America

By Tony Brown

Too damn early
for no coffee in the house
and all this heavy equipment
tearing up the street –

although it’ll be smoother
once they’re done, and the snowplows
will glide more quietly over the blacktop
in a month or so with fewer rough patches
in the pavement,
and I’ll be able to come home at night
with fewer teeth shaking loose in my head
every time I hit a pothole,
and in general the whole place will look
and feel more like someone cares
for this neighborhood –

still, this morning I’d trade the future
for two more hours of sleep
in the heart of
the decrepit status quo…

which
of course
is what makes me
an all-American.