Where, pray tell, are we now?
How far have we progressed?
Have we covered our ears so we can't
Hear the cries of the dispossessed?

Have pages been ripped out of history books
So that the people cannot see
The struggles that many undertook
To help to set all people free?

A nation "indivisible,
With liberty and justice for all"
Can benefit at times from a self-
Evaluative overhaul,

Or maybe from a look in the mirror
To see whether the image displayed
Truly represents the picture
Of freedom meant to be conveyed.

Through irreconcilable differences,
Have we now become divorced
From hopeful ideals that early on
The shapers of our nation endorsed?

Are we sincerely looking within
Our hearts to make a "more perfect" nation,
Or are we more consumed with drawing
Attention to the standing ovation?

Are we shutting the door to the soul
Of America and walling out
The power and strength that forms the basis
Of what this country is all about?

Let us not be blindsided
By rogue forces that hope to succeed
In weakening what makes us strong,
Only to relish watching us bleed.

-by Bob B (6-16-18)