On Break With The Statue Of Liberty

March 10, 2026

The Statue of Liberty
Said that she’d cancelled her
Speaking engagement.
Mt. Rushmore didn’t care.
He leaned
on the bar—a whiskey,
spilling from Jefferson’s right hand.

“It’s over”—The Statue of Liberty says.
“I need a trip.”
Then she gasped.
“I need the Plains.
I need,
The Great Fucking Plains!
I need:
A month in Olathe, Kansas,
Or six weeks in Valentine, Nebraska.
Or a weekend in Elko, Nevada maybe.
I need dry air: Tucson?
I need…need, need…”

The Statue of Liberty was at a table
At the Crimson Cup,
Next door to,
Emory’s Thrift Shop.
She’d just ordered an Earl Grey ‘grande’.
“Hey,” I said,
“Isn’t that an English tea?
Shouldn’t you be drinking coffee?
Or Coca-Cola?
Or Espresso—
Cappuccino maybe?”
The Statue of Liberty smiled.
She’s high on ocean air.
“Naw” she said,
“That’s Italian stuff.”
The Statue of Liberty lit a Camel.

“I’m a French girl.
You know how I like
to smoke, don’t you?”

Then I said to her:
“They invented
Filters for those things
Back in 1966.”
The Statue of Liberty didn’t care.

“I’ll be here for a thousand years,” she said.
“It’s the copper.”

I took a step back.
She stopped talking,
And exhaled smoke directly,
Over Teddy Roosevelt’s head.
He didn’t flinch.
George raised a granite eyebrow.
Abe didn’t seem to give a damn.
Unfiltered cigarette smoke
Drifted away toward
Hoboken, and Jersey City and on up
The Hudson toward the Tappan Zee,
And Bear Mountain.

Then, there was a ruckus…

Mt. Rushmore picked up a hammer.
Not a claw hammer like you use
To build a house,
But a ball peen hammer.
A five pound ball peen hammer.
The kind you use to batter metal
And spread rivets—The King of Hammers.
“These things built the Golden Gate Bridge”
He said. Then he laughed.

The Statue of Liberty laughed too.

“Smoke ‘em up” she said.
“Break time’s over—we got work to do.”
She exhaled more smoke into the
mid-morning-coffee-bistro-air.