What was her first name again?
No matter. She is Green and 26
and I am black and 60,
not Orange Country black, where she is from
but otherwise we look alike
and wonder what the Germans think of us
talking bad about our country
and Arnold Schwarzenegger, girlie-man,
needing a brassiere, Bush needing
to be thrown out on his ear, us needing
habeus corpus back, she saying
how scared everybody is
and what a wimp is
John McCain, who should know better
and probably does, but can't
do better, like the rest of them
including Democrats. 9/11.
Need any more be said?
Yes, she says, the polls are right.
People are saying it, but only behind closed doors.
Mr. Frischholz knows that Rumsfeld is being tried for war crimes
now in Germany, but he is absent today.
I say, foolishly, "Everybody should get excited
about that," knowing nobody will
but me and maybe Mr. Frischholz.
I say you've met a real American today
and almost say two.
She says nice to have met you, I say me too
and hear somebody tell her after class
"But I still like the States." He didn't get it.
We'll see what next week will bring
in Orange County, Germany
and on TV.