“You’ve Always Had The Power —”

When she says, there’s no place like home,
she means this country,
humid blankets of hallucinogenic flowers,
in a world of make-believe facts
she is quite afraid of—
enough to rise up and conjure a new nation.
When the witch melts,
Dorothy loses interest in departure.
She develops a non-profit
for wayward monkeys—no more pretending.
They rip off their bellhop uniforms
help her organize a food bank—birds eggs,
yellow fruit, and chia seeds.
In his hot air contraption,
the little man will return
to the land of dollars, settle
for an endowed chair at a business college.
Not Dorothy. Not with work to do.
She counsels Glinda on universal
healthcare, adds in a fashion consult:
leather jacket with black leggings,
a pair of pink suede shoes.
The Lollypop Guild seeks her help
on forming meaningful unions—free education for all!
She builds a life out of walking curved roads
and listening to those who are nothing like her—
an immigrant’s tale, a second chance language of song.
Even the apple trees have the right to a little happiness.
Even this country she thinks of from afar.