FREEDOM ISN'T FREE

they gather with flags
and pamphlets beneath the schizophenic spires
of the new york state capital 

they understand that when the shit
hits the fan in
Albany, the underground plaza
will be sealed off
and riot troops will fire down from the towers
as helicopters sweep low
probing the alleyways with searchlights
eradicating the last citizen
cowering beneath modern sculpture

city without sidewalks, your city center 
resembles nothing so much as a castle
or death star
an underground nightmare dystopia, 
like an airport, only harder to navigate
and with more objectionable art

there are no bookstores in downtown albany,
only the pamphlets of gun nuts
and a copy of Usa Today
blowing through the ghostly streets
whose headline reads
"NATO Predicts Long War"