Risk

By Michael Johnson

You know how when you get

those little plastic nubs

that symbolize your troops,

triumphant multitudes,

spread wide over the board

representing the world

but they’re stretched way too thin

out in the provinces

and maybe even close

to home sweet home and you

nervously realize

an opponent could take

all you’ve gained and reduce

your empire to just one

country or less – well, think

on some such possible

fate for America

in this new century

when everything has changed

except the oldest laws.

– Michael Johnson is an English professor at Kansas University.