Uriah Hamilton - No Flag to Burn

The Emperor’s sword
Razor-sharp to my neck
Or a woman’s hurtful word
Piercing to the spiritual core
Of my wounded soul!

How to measure
Which is worse?

Perhaps, I could learn to live
Vilified and country-less
With no flag to burn
In sacred ashes,

But how to forget her breath
Warm against my face
Or sweet upon my thigh
And yet remember
A reason to survive?

To be utterly rejected
By a woman’s heart
Is truly the definition
Of homelessness and exile.

Uriah Hamilton

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/no-flag-to-burn/