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When I saw the breaking news
in Oklahoma City,
I thought he'd be an Arab --
stubbly beard, long sharp nose,
olive trenchcoat,
two cold, unblinking onyx eyes
reflecting hatred for this land
of bare-thighed women,
beer-breathed men
who never bow to Mecca.

I guessed wrong.

He's one of our boys,
grown up to love to hate --
supremely white,
clean shaven,
a well-groomed farm boy
from the land of apple pie,
America's heart land,
where family values grow taller
than the Murrah Federal Building,
with a Ryder truck
parked out front.

Scott Speck
06/06/2001