To read
for meaning

Might that be
a pipe dream
of the presidential
sort

like all and sundry
take the moral high
after the fact
of the country’s SONA

To read
for meaning
our children are
right at the bottom
(dreaming or not)

(dreaming or not
this is the state
of the nation)

To read
for meaning
for comprehension
for understanding
and critical thinking

So that the state
of the nation is not
one where citizens
are taken for a ride
by the fancy-dressed ones
selfie-ing on the red carpet

To read
for meaning
needs to be

or is our emperor
the only one