{"id":856,"date":"2026-03-28T19:39:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T19:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/?p=856"},"modified":"2026-03-29T23:47:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T23:47:27","slug":"1a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/?p=856","title":{"rendered":"1A"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Red, White and Blue 
flags raise to the heavens.
They swish and soar as blue sky,
rosy petals and white clouds
serve as festive echoes.

Cherry blossoms are
a day past peak bloom.
Once bud, now pink snow,
they drift like confetti in the wind.

Joyful rally participants
hoist posters aloft
held on dowels, in hands
and taped to the fronts
of mobility scooters.

The posters that wave above heads 
are colorful in words and in craft.
They announce their purpose:
Peace, Democracy, Freedom.

Signs proclaim positivity: 
\"We love America!\"
\"Kindness!\" 
\"No War!\"
\"No Kings! Yes Love!\"
\"Sanity must prevail!\"
\"Let's stop the cruelty!\"
\"Democracy dies 
when people stay silent!\"

Some opt for witty zingers:
\"Science keeps 
your dumb ass alive!\"
And \"Peacefully Pissed!\"

Down the way, a man
in a striped robe and beard
clutches a sign that says:
\"The dude does not abide!
This aggression must not stand!<\/em>\"

Someone dressed like 
our current leader 
dons a crown and a comb-over,
black Florsheim dress shoes,
and a gaudy pinstripe suit.

This impersonator
dances awkwardly, lazily
\u2014 all fists and elbows \u2014
on the street median.

Across the way
a princess twirls and 
sparkles, blue and silver,
in a hoop-fluffed ball gown.

She carries a board that says:
\"Immigrants are:
      Friends
         Neighbors
           Economic Contributors
HUMAN BEINGS!\"

A DJ spins 
rallying tunes
under purpley-white
magnolias:

Born in the U.S.A.
Get up, Stand up.
This is America. 
Freedom! <\/em>

Protest, 
but make it party.

Passing cars honk
and throw peace signs 
from their car sunroofs.
In turn, the crowd cheers.

Pedestrians wave earnestly
at drivers and their companions.
Kids in car seats 
seem genuinely excited.

The throng hoots 
and fist pumps in union
as a friendly truck horn blares:
Ooo ooo oooo!<\/em><\/strong>

Sure, it's not all perfect.
There are occasional grimaces
or a prominent single finger 
that springs forth from a car window.

In these quick flares of anger,
gathered masses smile back
while some exclaim:
\"We love you!\"

And it's the truth.
They love us.
Because we are all 
inherently worthy of love.

We love America.
We love our neighbors.
We love our rights.
We love our country.

Welcome love
back to the table. 
Come, dance in the sun.
Revelers are waiting for you.
<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201c1A,\u201d an homage to the right to assemble, and the joy of spring and community, written March 28, poem 087 in a series of 365 poems written by Diana Ludwick in 2026. Photo, “Assembled Masses,” by Diana Ludwick (c) 2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,262,2],"tags":[411,20,414,417,305,119,232,412,415,109,413,416,361,46],"class_list":["post-856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2026-poetry-challenge","category-dry-humor","category-poems","tag-1a","tag-america","tag-cherry-blossoms","tag-country","tag-dancing","tag-love","tag-march","tag-no-kings","tag-party","tag-politics","tag-rally","tag-signs","tag-spring","tag-sun"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=856"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":875,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856\/revisions\/875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}