Land of Potential

Independence Day

I've seen America naked
The bare nature beneath the blue jeans
Is not so red-faced and patriotic,
Not so white with justice.
She listens not to her body,
Instead she appeases her neighbors
And puts on attractive camo(uflage)
When really her skin is turning
Offensively brown
And ironically she doesn't mind.
She let her jewel necklace made of factories
Rust, and now she coughs haggardly,
And the cheap metal scars her dust
A red and weathered color.
An infection of the industrial variety
Went decades without treatment
And now festers in boils and swamps.
Her newest lands, her virgin resources,
They were the only part of her I found ok.
I touched her strongest and oldest trees,
Shared her view from the mountain breeze,
And I thought myself in her heart.
In the clearest of winds I heard her sing
A song that held her voice with a cruel fist,
And her music sounded foreign, too.
America may be young, even though she doesn't dress it,
But she is in trouble.
We are surrounded by the trickling ash-water
Of a dreadful mistake, the mistake to not care,
The mistake to care more about other things.
America is free to once again to usher in
An era of global change, but only
If she dares.

Reviews

[Damien Ridge]

Strong emotions and views tied to this. "An infection of the industrial variety" paints a strong picture with your bringing in "rust" and such. Really good poem, thanks for sharing!

[CookeCody]

Why thanks for the comments Damien