WINTER ACROSS AMERICA
By Gwen Russell Green
When September brought tower walls crashing down
Amid toxic fumes and deadly smoke
America woke up and prayed
When bombs broke innocent, vulnerable runners’ legs and arms and spirit
Blinded some
They were not the only ones who remained blind
America’s spirit was maimed
And the bleeding has not stopped!
We watch as the enemy of man exploits our greatest glaring prejudices
Turns racism into a badge of honor
Sends us cowering in a corner of hypocrisy and fear
It matters not that we had overcome
Or that 2008 was a very GOOD year
Cause overcoming led to a dulling sense of malaise and inertia
Our lazy spirits languished
Instead of taking the voting polls by storm
Ramming paper ballots down the throats of those who oppress us
Was what we DIDN’T do
Seeing virtue, honor, and true love manifest in our national leadership
Was not enough for us to keep us in the fight
Freedom forward had to be stopped AND IT WAS
Murders continued in black and white and blue
Still we languished
Perhaps wiped a tear
Turned off somber images of violence and death
Embraced that laissez-faire
Of icy winds, as winter consumed America
Frozen ideals never thawed
And empty words were norm
And there were lies, and lies, and lies
But winter was in America
As women cried, “Me too!” and Cosby lost his pudding deal
And his, “make room for Daddy,” smile
America, the land of the free
Put up a “Whites Only,” sign upon its doors
And locked Guatemalan children in cages
How could we possibly provide for outlaws and law breakers whose skin was brown and black?
How could we welcome them onto our stolen land
Though like good and loving parents do
As more needy children come
We simply divide the bread
Increase the love as needed
God provides, and has, and will
But we gave up our power
Forgot, “In God we TRUST’
Cowered in a corner and said,
“God bless America...FIRST!
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