Imagine, for a moment, that comic books were real.

If you’re a comic nerd like I, you might see the appeal.

Ponder then, if you will, the possibility

of Good Old Cap’n America

as flesh and blood, a real-life man,

tangible as you and me.

Would he be proud, do you believe

of the nation branded ‘cross his back?

Would he represent the values of those

who claim to lead us best?

Could you bear to see the sight of he, that golden haired crusader,

Tearing hijabs from Muslim women’s heads

Picketing Mosques and banning dreads?

With his shield, and with his might,

Challenging the evil of the press to a fistfight?

Yes, I can see it now, Cap giving speeches to the kids,

“Remember now, the Mexicans are here to steal your jobs,

And if you’re gay, as we all know, it’s best to keep it hid.”

Would Cap be at the front lines of American ideology?

Marching to the anthem, sullying his boots with protestor blood

Deaf to the yells of the middle class

and the woman with no rights to her body?

If the “values” of our nation were made flesh as of today,

I do not think the end result would make us proud to say

“Look, there he goes! Our avatar, symbol of all that we hold dear,

Come, raise your heads and give him a rousing cheer.”

A cross emblazoned on his chest, handcuffs hanging from his belt,

rifle held within his grasp,

dollar fragments in his pearly teeth, his singing voice a cigar roughened rasp.

“*My native country, thee,

*Land of the white man free,

*Thy wealth I love;

*thy factories and rigs,

*Thy vanquished woods and trampled hills;

*My heart with apathy thrills.”

No, in fact, I do declare, that this is not to be.

For if this man existed,

He would be Captain America’s

mortal

Enemy.

 

(*Fragments of some lines taken from "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" and altered, no plagairism meant or intended.)