Redecorating

finally new owners

have bought the place

redecorated the old house

behind the iron fence

replaced the original

white-washed sandstone

with mirrors with glass

coated the bulletproof windows

with a metallic glaze

dug out the gardens

and the lawns

had the workers install

shallow pools

to reflect the sky

from pennsylvania avenue

up to façade

so when we pass

we see who we are

what we’ve been about

nice to stare in

see yourself staring back

the more we dispense

with the pretense

the easier it is to measure

the worth of our national treasure

at night the place glows

the proverbial light on a hill

the most devoted followers

liken the house to a decoration

for a branch on an old tree

swaying in the wind at the end

of a very thin string