H e a r t S o n s & H e a r t D a u g h t e r s of A l l e n G i n s b e r g

N a p a l m H e a l t h S p a : R e p o r t 2 0 1 4 : A r c h i v e s E d i t i o n

NANCY MERCADO

I Told You

That the implosion

Of the United States

Would occur in our lifetime

That hatred would

Consume itself

Bite off its hands

Feed on its entrails

Feed on its own children

That this would explode into

A billion body parts like fireworks

On the 4^th of July

I told you the sun would rise

One dead mornings

Around white picket-fenced corners

Waking Dick and Jane

Turning their faces toward the mirror

Crystallizing the cries of dead bodies

Floating down rivers

Of massacres and mass graves

That the U.S. in Bosnia

Would take Oklahoma by surprise

That the U.S.

In the Middle East

In Africa

Would pay New York City a visit

That U.S. policy makers

Would meet in chandeliered-rooms

For breakfast

For lunch

For dinner

To toss stacks of paper around

Like some ball game

White-collar trash men

I told you that assassins

Would come back into style

That the Dark Ages would thrive

In the 21^st century

I told you that McCarthy

Would miraculously

Come back from the dead

2004