This article represents a few firsts for me. For one, it represents my first post since the Odyssey powers that be have decided to accept poetry submissions. This article is my first poetry submission.

Some Flags

On the left:

An elk and a moose both rear up

And swat with pipe cleaner legs

At an eagle hovering between them,

Like nature's most patriotic jump ball.

This banner is lousy with mottos:

"E Pluribus Unum." You probably know this one:

"Out of Many One," the motto of the United States,

And, probably, The Trinity.

Below that: "Tuebor" or "I will defend."

And at the bottom:

"Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice,"

Which sounds OK in Latin,

But which translates to:

"If you seek a peninsula, look about you,"

Which is inarguably

The durpiest motto to ever appear on a state flag.

Above that last one,

A man in overalls the color of a 9 a.m. mimosa,

With a very long gun in his left hand,

And a symbol of peace in his right,

Is happy to have found the peninsula he sought.

This is the Michigan flag

And it's one of three

That wave in front of Hillside Baptist Church.

On the right:

White field, as pure as the driven snow;

A canton as blue as the baptismal waters of the Jordan, With a cross burning red in the center;

Hot like Jesus's blood in an election year.

Privileged not only with the central position,

But also with an aluminum pole that has a good six inches on the others,

The Stars and Stripes flap gently in the breeze, And if you listen closely you can hear them whisper A promise to the flag on the right:

"Today you will be with me in paradise."

I said this article represented a few firsts for me. Here's the second: This is my first article since stepping down from the position of Editor-in-Chief of Spring Arbor's Odyssey community. It was a good time, and I'm thankful for the opportunity. But now that I have a full-time writing job (!) I don't have the time to handle the position well anymore. I will be staying on as a content creator, so, hopefully, there will be many, many more articles from me, and my replacement, Maggie Belcher, has the passion and work ethic to take Spring Arbor's community further than I ever could have.