The Kid in the Cardinal Cap*

The old banner
Caught the breeze
Responding to the mild
Summer morning.

It might have gone unnoticed
But for the young boy
Gazing at it
Beneath the visor
Of his Cardinals ball cap.

What kinda flag is that?
He queried his grandfather.

That’s the rebel flag, boy
Granddad answered.
Pretty, ain’t it?

I guess
Said the boy.
What’s a rebel?

A rebel’s someone
That gets angry with the way
Things are
Said granddad.

What way?

Well, f’instance
The government said federal law
Trumps state law.

Doesn’t it trump state law, Pap?

Whataya mean?
Granddad asked.

Well, Pap
If the government says a man’s guilty
Of murder
And the state says it don’t matter
Isn’t the person he killed
Still dead?

Well, yeah…but...

And if a man’s a spy
But the state says he isn’t
Weren’t secrets still stolen?

Well, yeah…but...

Then I don’t understand
The boy said.

But it was all about owning slaves
Explained granddad.

You’re telling me
That the state said it was okay
To own another human being
Even though God and the government said
It wasn’t?

But ain’t it a right pretty flag, boy?

The kid in the Cardinal cap shrugged.

Not so much
He said
Walking away to find anything
Better to do.


*For the record, I'm the great grandson of a rebel soldier. I honor my great granddad, and I love the south. I love my heritage...but that flag needs to be a museum relic.