The State of Disunion

THE STATE OF DISUNION

Unsettled, uncertain, and insecure
The dis-ease we feel is certain and sure,
We paint a picture of chaos bright red
That vividly verifies we’re bleeding… or dead.

Ill will breeds illness
Sick thinking, sick lives
When hatred is hallowed
Our culture can’t thrive.

Like hunted animals
We stagger and fall
But the wound’s self-inflicted
It damages us all.

Rage against racism
Rage against rules
Rage against sexism
And the governing of fools.

But anger is no answer
It bleeds into sin
Destruction is the opposite
Of rebuilding again.

Where is the wisdom
That counsels us well
Where is our compass
That keeps us from Hell?

Where is the love
That casts out all fears
Where is the hope
That dries up all tears?

Where are the leaders
Who don’t serve themselves
Who leave their agendas
And egos on shelves?

Free speech is not free
It’s fettered and bound
When spin controls news
The loss is profound.

What happens to a nation
Who once ‘held these truths’
But abandoned their quest
And their voting booths?

‘Oh say can you see
By the dawn’s early light’
What so proudly we once hailed
Now is nowhere in sight?

Our courage is flagging
Our devotion impure,
The wrong sort of pride
Is the disease not the cure.

An immigrant nation
That thinks NO a solution
Has forgotten their origins
Cheated our Constitution.

Lady liberty told us
‘Give us your tired, your poor,
Your asylum seekers….
Don’t shut the door!’

I dream of a day
When we live out our creed
When we welcome the stranger
And help those in need.

When we realize that fear
Makes cowards of us all
Thinking we’ll be safer
By building a wall.

But the truth is it’s bridges
That overcome divisions
The truth is it’s sutures
That bind up incisions.

The truth is that peace
Comes with a price,
It requires compassion
Not guns and ICE.

The state of our disunion
Is easy to see,
Just look in the mirror
It’s in you, it’s in me.

Feb. 18. 2019
In honor of President’s Day

BW3