Art is a powerful cultural tool. It has the ability to change society slowly over time or, on more rare occasions, overnight. Here at the Kansas Constitutional, we believe art can be used as a force to uphold freedom, American patriotism, and beauty in general. Afterall, art is one of the first things dictators throughout history would seek to alter and destroy. One of the greatest forms of art, in my humble opinion, is poetry. It is because of all these reasons I hope to inspire, encourage, and challenge my readers to be the greatest people they can be through the use of this beautiful art form.
U-Tapao
“It was—eleven days—of war,”
the Veteran—told me.
Amid the fight—he said he swore
it would make history.
Yet, there I stood—dumbfounded fool—
unsure of what he said.
Why did I not learn this in school?
So many men—now dead!
“We were Air Force—and the Navy,”
the Veteran recalled.
Runway ends—at ocean—wavy—
the blasts of bombs—appalled—
Santa’s sleigh—were B-52s—
Nixon did wrap each bomb
for ‘Eleven Days of Christmas’—
upon North Vietnam.ABOUT THE POET: I. D. Brannan is a born and raised Kansan. He has written for the Emporia Gazette, the Branson Register, The Oakland Express, Baldwin City Living Magazine, and GE Magazine before starting The Kansas Constitutional. Brannan’s poetry has won 1st Place in the 2020 Burford Theatre Poetry Contest and the 2020 Kansas Author’s Club Literary Contest (Japanese Forms) and has placed in several other contests. His poetry has also been featured in The Best of Mile Marker Review, Whistling Shade Literary Review, Grand Little Things, WestWard Quarterly Literary Magazine, the Fib Review, the I Hate Poetry Podcast, and on merchandise in the Indie Treasure online store.