(This poem can be sung to the song "America the Beautiful.")

America, what's happened here?
You're covered by a cloud.
We're now constrained to shed a tear,
For how can we be proud?
America, you've offered us
Such wonders since your birth.
But now you see how sadly we
Have failed to prove our worth.

America, from east to west
Your history reveals
That in the past we once were blessed
With passionate ideals.
But now we can observe that we
Are burdened by extremes.
Must we regress from hopefulness?
What's happened to our dreams?

America, since early days,
We've grown from cause to cause.
But now we watch as lawmakers
Find ways to bend the laws.
Integrity was once admired,
Equality a goal.
But greed and hate won't make us great.
What's happened to our soul?

America, we'd hoped that you
Would loudly sing your song--
That colors true--red, white, and blue--
Would carry us along.
A crisis looms, the likes of which
We haven't had before.
The case is grave; we've got to save
This land from shore to shore.

-by Bob B (1-21-20)