extremists

i cringe when he
brings up politics, leaning
so far to the left
he'd be
black listed in the fifties,
his wife too.
her red
beret tilted,
her pamphlets printed
and ready to
be air dropped onto you.
the other friend
leans right.
oil and war are on his
mind.
sharpening our bayonets
to keep
the landscapers
and nannies out.
building the wall with
one insensitive
brick at a time.
if i were a turtle
i'd recede
into my shell and wait
until it all is over,
hoping for Thomas
Jefferson, or Lincoln,
or even Taft to come back
to life.