as six fifth graders climb the stairs to mount the stage

and lead the pledge of allegiance,

the principal signals for everyone to stand.

and as adults and children alike

stand,

i still sit.

my mother looks down at me but says nothing

because she knows.

i pledge allegiance to the flag 

the voices of the audience come as one,

pausing after allegiance

and starting to the flag at the same time  

as if they've all been taught to speak the same words

in the same way.

"what's she doin?"

to the United States of America

by now i can feel the stare of the woman behind me.

and as the pledge continues,

her voice grows louder.

and to the Republic for which it stands

the woman's voice,

performing that same inflection at re-pub-lic

that everyone else does as if they've all been taught

to speak the same words the same way,

becomes more forceful,

as if she's trying to push me to my feet with her tone.

One nation, under God

she's even louder now, as if trying to call God  Himself

to look at the insolent black child sitting

during the pledge.

indivisible

the potency in her voice pushes at my shoulders 

and pulls at the back of my blouse.

with liberty and justice for all.

it's over, and immediately, a hushed

"so disrespectful!"

she hasn't yet stopped to think 

why the three generations in the room

inflect their voice the same way

at the same time 

on those same words,

or why they all pause the same way 

at the same times 

after the same words.

she, at her age, has yet to realize

that she, like every American child 

before and after her,

was taught the "pledge" from the minute after she could read, 

and long before she could comprehend 

allegiance and indivisibility,

but was failed to be informed 

that she was never required to stand.

she has yet to acknowledge 

that liberty 

and justice

are abstractions to those of us

that they have always been kept from

she doesn't now 

that this is conditioned blindness 

and she doesn't know 

because she's never seen.

the Nation under God made sure of that.