Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

something in the American air

effects induces an involuntary
almost unnoticeable change
in personal philosophy
until I discover myself engaged in
a no-limits-capacity hoarding–
one good main daily meal
no longer enough to satisfy
like when I lived minimal in
different parts of Asia–

here in San Francisco I’m constantly
trying to fill my 2 small fridges
stacked one upon the other
up against a wall in my bathroom
and never once in expatriate Asia 4 years
did I feel that need–

here if you want a meal out it’s a big production
involving distorted remnants of old world
Euro-manners barely applicable today

my first day in Tokyo ate soup standing up
fast-slurping Japanese all sides at a counter
a woman constantly filling water glasses
shoving them down to the next soup slurp-er
entering tropical summer hot
–that water only drink offered–simplifies
matters– and only 3 kinds of soup–
no need to speak to order
just purchase the correct ticket upon entrance
under the train station stairs–
a sensible location
errand–get it down fast on your way back
on your way to work or the next destination

while many restaurants in Hong Kong, Tokyo
stay open all nite long–

here Americans consider eating-out entertainment–
a planned activity–invite friends for conversation
and most restaurants close-up by 11 p.m.
some foreign ones stay open till midnite
as if everyone gets up sleeps eats at the same
hour–

Marie Kazalia 9/22/2K
***