I sometimes like to see the flag flapping at the top of a construction crane. The loneliness of the flap, the anthem’s punch line, consoles me like the moon or a good cloud. When a vulnerable person sings the anthem, the crowd sweeps me up in the swell. I can resist strong performances; a wavering…
When you were a kid, you thought you’d be an astronaut. You could think of nothing else. You borrowed all of those books from the library, memorized the constellations, begged for a telescope for Christmas, and then for your birthday, and then for the Christmas after that, at which point you finally gave up. As…