Because you might walk into a public building
and stand on a desk,
your government is a thing
that cannot be touched by our hands.

(here are some things you can touch:
stone, or the skin of a girl’s neck,
or paper with written words:
words like “people” or “People”)

Your government cannot be put down
like a rabid animal; you might just as well
try to smash a puddle with a hammer.
America: there is stone, and there is skin,
and there are people who will tell you what to do—
but you are People, too.