The leader of the hypocrites,
His adjutant, and all their crew
Revel in dudgeonaceous snits
Approaching apoplectic fits
When football players (black in hue)
Take to the knee before the anthem
And say their “owners” ought to can them.
“It’s disrespectful to the flag,
The anthem, and to soldiers too,
Each negro like a scalawag
With lots of money in the bag,
Millionaire athletes these men who
Protest police brutality
And killings with impunity.”
Yet when was kneeling disrespect?
A man before his would-be bride?
Parishioners who genuflect
At church, and pray the Lord protect?
However that they may deride
The hypocrites cannot portray
A peaceful kneel some other way.
Their leader himself disregards
Respectful protocols, to chat,
While that same flag is lowered, yard’s
Stillness suffused with the retards
Of bugle’s blowing—notes whereat
A plaintive awe wells in each breast
Save that of those who chat or jest.
The leader and his adjutant,
With all their horde of acolytes,
Indulge voracious spewing rant
Despite selves disbelieving cant
As they have raised to fevered heights
Against their opposition: they
Act differently from what they say.