"America I've given you all and now I'm nothing."

Nothing.
An empty chair in town hall.
A piano with no white keys.
An asterisk in the legislation, if I'm lucky.
I ate your bread,
attended your circuses,
burned my bridges for promises you made.
I remember I saved four-thousand dollars
after college and believed I had foresight.
You burned it all before me
and then pierced my eye with your sword of justice,
placed me on the scales and found that
all your wealth weighs more than I do.
The American Dream!
Yet, how am I to dream if I cannot see?
And do you feel heavy?
No, I don't believe you do.
You have your patriots to prop you up when you begin to slouch.
And good on them for being more blind than I am,
or good on them for otherwise.
But that is not the American dream, is it?
I think not, but then again, who am I?

Seems unreal
And abstract
A string of zeros
That exists in some
Strange place
Of its own

I get paid by the hour.
Counting time by all the dollars.

Trading my life with every transaction.
Trying to catch my life before it loses traction.

All that my life is the seconds that descent.
How much money until my life is spent?

I lived in Shenzhen, China, for my 6th and 7th grades.
- China was AMAZING.

In China, blond hair is unusual, I stood out like neon
and touching blond hair was considered good luck.

In a train station, if I stood still, I could draw a curious mob
- especially in the provinces like Heubi and Shanxi. I was in
more than a few selfies but people were polite and respectful.

China is much more advanced than the U.S..
Everything is new, clean and modern - the Internet is faster.
Most trains are bullet trains that travel 325kph (>200mph).
There are more than 10 new, gleaming cities larger (and newer) than New York.

An App called WeChat (used on your phone) runs the world.
imagine Facebook, iMessage, PayPal and Uber combined
- with that one App you could do anything.

At restaurants, you paid your bill at your table using WeChat from a QR code that the electronic corner of your table displayed. You even paid street vendors with the app - no one used cash.

Cameras are everywhere - if you break a law like jaywalking and BBBZZZZ you get a text and the fine is deducted from your WeChat account - all automatically.

Public TV screens, located on corners, show recent violations with the perps picture and the fine they paid - again, automatic.

Does this sound Orwellian? Well, maybe, but Chinese police
don't **** people - or even engage people for minor offenses.

America, you're broke and on the edge of being a third world country.

Yeah, yeah, I know that China is free-market-communist
and certainly imperfect - but if you saw China, you'd be impressed
and you'd know the ugly truth - America has squandered it's wealth on military macho and forty years of war. China's last, small war was in 1980 (With Vietnam who they beat in 3 weeks and 2 days).

Middle America looks almost bombed-out with closed businesses
(even before the pandemic) - but in China, you can’t look anywhere
without seeing building cranes - like a forest of trees. A physical
illustration of Americas loss of wealth.

I LOVE America - it’s sad to see. We've gotta wake up.

Life is a grand adventure
And adventures come with tests
You won’t succeed with every try
You just need to do your best

With adventure comes perspective
And relationships - and skill
Yes, the things that really matter
When you act with power and will

Prosperity is character
When challenging times arrive
So brace up and hold steadfast
Act with confidence - and thrive

All my daily actions
Flow from seeds
Within my mind
And so I’ll start each tiny thought
With the purpose
To be kind

We all seek to prosper
In the ways
We are inclined
And though we act quite differently
We can love
And still be kind

Millions of these actions
When added
and combined
Help make our world a safer place
To open up
And be kind

Life is not wealth but
                         moments.

For wealth can easily be lost.

   But moments always last a lifetime.

If the clouds seem darker today
And the sun is hard to find
Try to look on the brighter side
And keep your purpose in mind

Though the storms and trials come
The darkness will one day end
Keep your eye on the brighter side
So your wounds will quickly mend

The brighter side will yet reveal
When you open yourself to see
A view and message full of hope
Shed the darkness - And be free