… he liked the country undecorated, hard, and stripped of its finery.
—Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows 

he liked it
hard as ironwood
no medals pinned to its chest
no stars and stripes
or fancy ribbons to
hide its true nature
an eagle stripped of
arrows and olive branches
soars high above
the shifting winds
of freedom
to see more clearly
all the peaks and valleys
of we the people

First published in One Art: A Journal of Poetry https://oneartpoetry.com/2026/07/04/plain-and-simple-by-gene-twaronite/

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