| Rx Poetry |

Musical Interlude I 
by Crystal Stone

My country tis of thee

-se sticker name-tag interruptions,

of citizen strangers,

of the right to concealed carry

entitlement religion virus.

We the people of wasted time.

Sweet land of labor, libel,

injustice for all. My country

tis of thee-se phantom militia

viral race to bare faces in public.

Electoral college of miscounted

votes, moderate

losses. Land of the free

to lick the Walmart shelves,

the free to be fired. Land of

the lawless brave. We the sold out

people, we the indulgent 

prayerless feasts.


Crystal Stone is author of two collections of poetry, Knock-Off Monarch (Dawn Valley 2018) and All the Places I Wish I Died (CLASH 2021). She is a recent graduate of the Iowa State University MFA program, where she gave a TEDx talk entitled “The Transformative Power of Poetry.” Her upcoming book, Civic Duty, is included in her recent NPR interview. You can find her on Twitter @justlikeastone8, on Instagram @justlikeastone, or at her website www.crystalbstone.com.