Alligator Alcatraz
Hail America, bright city on a hill, Exemplar to the world of self-deception Hail to the proud ingenuity Of your unspeakable cruelty Packaged as a mode of self-defense. You have reinvented concentration camps And made them great again for persecution. The worst of the worst who work in crummy jobs Can now expect to spend their wretched days In chain-link cages fit for mangy dogs. The land of the free imprisons more folks Than any other land. Stalin, you’re old news. A new Chief Criminal has taken charge. All you Ku Klux Klaners, he has surpassed Your nightmare dreams for people black and brown. The government can arrest and put away Any immigrant or those who look the part On any pretense. No need to follow law. Its forces are a law unto themselves And their power is spreading. No one is safe. Alligators and pythons will guard the gates. When the floods and hurricanes arrive They can float inside and have a snack On some immigrant who sought a better life And became an entrée for things that bite. Our leader wants a Nobel Prize for Peace. He’s going to get the Abu Ghraib Prize For cruelty done in the name of sport. May he enjoy round after round of golf Until a gator finds him near its pond.