Lemonading
By Victoria Melekian
America, greed is upstream
rivering unharnessed, fast splashing
across our land uprooting centuries
of forest, marsh, and rocky outcrops.
Greed is carving a frontier of gated wealth,
leaving us a new map: river of hunger,
river of despair, river of no mercy.
America, greed is gilding the capitol.
Kids down the street are raising money
for a classmate’s rugged wheelchair—so he can go
with us to sixth grade wilderness camp, they said.
Their lemonade: so zesty, so sweet.
Victoria Melekian grew up in Los Angeles and now lives with her husband in Carlsbad, California. Her poetry collection The Accidental Courage of Our Lives is available from Sheila-Na-Gig Editions. Unhoused, Victoria’s novella-in-flash, won first place in the 2026 Bath Flash Fiction Novella-in-Flash Awards. For more, see her website: victoriamelekian.com.
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