Poem 4:Little America

I knew so much when I was five,

I had 10 pennies

And I knew how to dive.

 

When I was fifteen

I grew my own mind

Though a combination of my peers

I thought my own seed-thoughts I aligned

 

Had that cup been filled before

When the water o’er the edge did flow

Or had I just been a reckless envoy

Making the swells and crests grow

 

We knew so much in 76

With our Common Sense, Articles, Declaration

Coming from English stock

We had small trouble with equal representation

 

We had the money

To go into debt

And we had the great fathers

And our diving cadets

 

Onward and up with power and fame

The peacemaker with atoms

The force behind NATO

The butt of EU jokes now our name

 

Had that cup been filled before

When water o’er the edge did flow

Or had we just been reckless

Making the swells and crests grow

And grow

And grow

And spill out.