rainbow

i traced its edge
through deep green fields
over pine tree hills and higher
till it scraped the desolate
snows of nowhere

and still i followed
on through alpine vale
and florid glen and down
jagged canyon ridges past
island mountains that rose
as if from seas of sand

and still i followed
past mesas lined with crows
and sere grass ranges
where lumbering cows rid
the world of diversity

and yet still on
along wide slow rivers filled
with stench fish floating lifeless
on bloated sides and
by pillars of smoke that
chased blue from the skies

and yet still on
through lifeless mountains
painted green to please the eye
past springs that bubbled poison
and wells that oozed dismay

yet still i went
following those faded hues
amid a web of tall marble
monuments each depicting
through stains the long neglected
dreams of liberty

yet still i went
along shores littered with
death where rag-worn poor rake
thin pale fingers through filth
for remnants of life

and finally there in a long
white plaza it ended
all its color drained to sooty
shades of gray that flickered
out from the last remains

of a once great constitution

now but a distant hope for
greater souls to strive toward