The Nation-State Is a Human Construct
Chris Ellery
March 2, 2025
“All new states are invested, more or less, by a class of noisy, second-rate men who are always in favor of rash and extreme measures, but Texas was absolutely overrun by such men.”
Sam Houston, President of the Republic of Texas
The shrimp in the pools of Enchanted Rock
have never heard of the social contract.
The mystic granite, eons underground,
did not rise to lobby for the rights of man.
What we call Texas never was or will be Texas.
The grackle atop the Capitol flagpole
would never kill or die for a lonely star.
Arroyo and aquifer, river and gulf,
desert and canyon, mesquite and pine.
What we call Texas never was or will be Texas.
Men come with dreams and prejudice.
Men come with eager violence.
Men come with zeal-sharpened pride.
Men come blind to the common good.
What we call Texas never was or will be Texas.
Tell monarch and rattler they belong to a state.
Tell hawk and eagle they can’t cross a line.
Tell wind and sunlight, snow and rain.
Tell every dewdrop. Tell twister. Tell hurricane.
What we call ours never was or will be ours.
Chris Ellery is a native Texan and long-time resident of San Angelo. His most recent collection of poems is One Like Silence, which explores the causes of division in society and offers a vision of radical oneness based on perennial philosophy.
