By: Josh Jennings

“Come, examine this life from afar,” Lady Liberty cries.
“Bear witness to our American dream.”
A blushing bride to be sitting on the porch.
Hearty greetings from neighbors
bellowing across a newly surfaced road.
A room full of gifts surrounding an expectant crib.
“Here,” America decrees, “lies the land of plenty.”

Yet the white picket fence conceals
more than a recently dug swimming pool.
The hum of a new ford truck parked in the carport
drowns out a young bride’s vehement refusals.
A hidden pregnancy forces her hand
into accepting a proposal which finds her newly bound,
attached to a man who stole her chance
for an American dream of her own.
“Welcome to the land of plenty,” America drones.
“Forgive me if it isn’t what you expected.”