Poem: Weathered Flag By the Sea

The Flag rehearsed the Wind all day –
Tugged hard – and would not yield –
The Sea flung questions up the cloth –
Which Fracture half revealed –

Salt worried every former hue –
As Fingers fret a seam –
Till Red forgot its early name –
And Blue misplaced its Dream –

It lunged – then snapped itself upright –
As if recalled to Task –
No Banner begged to be believed –
It only met the Ask –

The Pole enforced no Sympathy –
It held – because it must –
As Structures do – when Weather learns
The Vocabulary – Trust –

At Dusk – the Flag grew argumentative –
And struck the Air – once more –
Then folded up its shouting words –
And leaned against the Shore –

© Jill Szoo Wilson, 2026

Capitalization and punctuation inspired by Emily Dickinson. 🧡