How did you let this happen?



Stalin, Hitler, Lothar von Trotha, Israel and Biden
Smiling and lying,
They all benefited from the starving and dying.
They all committed horrible crimes
They all scarred the earth how many times?
Over and over "Never Again!" they'd cry.  Over and over again they'd lie.
And yet..
What weak creatures are we, guilty in our complicity?
Tanks ain't cheap
Bullets and bombs ain't free
Sponsored by the hungry, crying out "Stop taxing me"
Feels awful don't it?
The part you played will haunt you, won't it?
Only going as far as to not condone it
How many are quick to forget when the news don't show it?
Tell me..
What is our atonement?
Choose, starving or rent?
Paying for loans we never lent,
Worried about what bills got sent
Wondering where all the money went..
While whole families die under the rubble of their apartment..
Innocent lives reduced to puddles on the pavement
Here we are, blinding our discernment for rat race greed
Scrambling for things we don't even need
While the world watches millions have nothing to eat
Their bones are showing, they're dying in the streets, JUST LET THEM EAT, GIVE THEM PEACE
God give them peace..
Breathe
Take a breath
Take a seat
It's no question, what morals we are lacking
I can hear it now.
I can hear the Future asking:
"How did you let this happen?"

About this poem

Life as an American, watching genocide unfold in front of you.

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Written on March 28, 2024

Submitted by saffoldj154 on March 28, 2024

1:18 min read
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Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBCCDEFGFFHHHHFIJJJJIIKKLMMNOLBPBA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,302
Words 252
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 35

Joan Saffold

Just a struggling American, in an ugly world, using art to get through it. more…

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    "How did you let this happen?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/184758/how-did-you-let-this-happen?>.

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