The State of America: A poem

When you think of the state of America, a few images may come to mind

People, but not always bright

People whose tears sting their eyes

People who type for a life

People who celebrate prejudice and strife

But

In the face of adversity

In lying awake at night, no sleep

No secret rendezvous

No giggly tryst

Just you, your bed, and a lack of drive

Something still exists in you, a waiting wick

While your mind refuses to rest,

Always working overdrive

The state drains away, an irremovable tick,

A persistent parasite,

A breath-taking kick

And relief never comes; rest is obsolete

But

If there should be one reconciliation, it should be to know we’ll be strong,

Because whenever there is a call

For the different, for the down, for the change of a law,

The setting sun shines through idyllic glass

It touches the unaware

And the light spots in their vision blurs our world with its care

If there should be one reconciliation, that this nation can hold and achieve,

it is the inability to ignore

What it can strive to be

They say

“That unavoidable glare reaches me,” and we are off, to see what we will be

So we go outside and run, and walk, and wheel

To listen together, while those who speak, speak for victory

For themselves, and for those who don’t have the voice or the strength to say

We are still people

Under the same sun,

The same sky

And the same flag we will share tonight