GOD LOVES TEXAS

They want to write Thomas Jefferson out of history.
Delete him like a dark chapter
from the annals of American History.
He who coined separation of church and state
is a sword in the side of self-proclaimed historians
who bleed, but not of wine.

The Dark Ages weren’t as dark
as the house the Texas Board of Education wants to build.
With the buying power to control content,
America’s children will read what
they want them to read.

They soften the image of McCarthy—
His motives were pure.
Jefferson for McCarthy.
There’s only so much room.
Motives justify methods
because God loves Texas.

To defame a person,
first misspell his last name.
Sow seeds of doubt.
Rearrange his words and cast credit elsewhere
Remove Monticello from travel guides
and besmirch the gardens—
the vegetables he grew,
amazed at the temperate zone of a new world.

While at it,
rearrange the heads of the founding fathers,
Was that really John Hancock’s John Hancock?
Like the 12 apostles at the dinner table,
Mary Magdalene in the shadows.
Misquote Paine to fortify your position.
Who will bother to verify?

Purge American History of he who dared to separate
the church from the state.
As if one could take guns from the righteous
guards from the gate
inmates from their prison.
God out of Texas