More Blood Than Bandage Waves

When you see the US flag
do you tally the stars, cornered as they are, 
     before deciding 
where to park your car?
Do you confirm
all fifty pentacles in the cotton blue union
clung close to the pole in a grid?

Having parked your car,
do you consider your position
amongst available spaces
relative to your desired places to spend
     your credit or cash?
Are you sure you’ll know
where to find in the future
what you’ve left in the past?

Do you count the seven and the six,
ratifying more blood than bandage waves
from a moving sky
o’er the lot of a great shopping center?
Do you salute and park and shop?
Duck and roll and drop?
Park and shop and salute?
Lock and load and shoot?
     Do you remember
where you’ve parked your car?
When you see the US flag at a distance
do you understand
where you are?