IS IT HOT IN HERE . . .

.  .  .  On that perilous night, when I first lifted my lamp by her golden door, she was dressed in broad stripes and bright stars. I was always a sucker for broad stripes and bright stars. It happened after a long day of exceedingly hard work. Boy, was I tired from all that hard work! She knew I wanted her. And I knew she wanted me.

In a flash, our clothes fell to the floor, and she whispered huskily in my ear, "Give me your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free," and before I knew it, I saw that golden valley. Oh, the rockets' red glare! The bombs bursting in air!  In that moment of indivisible union, I screamed out, "America, America! God shed His grace on thee!"

I was hopelessly, irretrievably in love. I guess that makes me a sinner. But it also makes me a patriot.

- Jeffery Goldberg.