Waking Up

Waking up

Waking up to the news, I see skewed data
And sorted information
It depletes my inclination
To rise and greet an un-united nation
With elites continuing to divide with “twitterpation”
Where’s the strong standing to fight
Speaking out “This is not right!”
We’re holding strong through the division
To a brotherhood we envision
Will one day conquer political strife
Promising our offsprings a better life
False voting, a pipeline down
Iran developing nukes,
China’s economic Crown.
Might as well have taken the glory from atop our New York Lady,
Everything honorable under her torch, now only shady.
Her light is dimming and our hearts are bleeding
Through high demands we keep retreating
Fear is collecting and binding our silence
As we stare at the tube and review all the violence
It tears a child from innocence and forces them older
While parents fear retribution if they tread a step bolder
But in the dimness, a spark still shines
Through all the doubt and false designs.
A people who will not settle for less,
A core group refusing national regress
They are not choosing sides
Extremism is not their play
They are just hard working citizens
Trying to make it through the day
Mothers and fathers who believe in their souls
The best the can do is submit to the rolls
They are punching the clock everyday
Unsure if our Constitution still protects what they say
The light quietly burns as they feed their child
Trying to protect the babe from a world gone wild
Hush little baby, please do not say a word
“I do not know if it is safe, or you will be taken and dubbed absurd”
Is this what our great nation has been reduced to?
Whispers in the walls and halls; and texts regarding “Who do’s?”
Daily redundancy with moments of clarity
Trying to determine who is the adversary
My next door neighbor may turn me in
After egregious Impeachments who’s to stop them?
Are you my friend?
I fear the worst is coming
Where you will be chasing
And I will be running
But not in a game as when we embraced as a child
But rather a sinister evolution of sociological denial
As Covid enters the scene with a pandemic of depression
Just one more thing to add regression
Who will tag me first?
You or the disease?
At least it is not a racist virus
While you sit in judgement with your bias
Which side am I on you ask in preparation
Lurking behind your eyes lays my desecration
Divided through job loss and immigration
A wall built between two parties
Opening doors to foreign invasion
But still that small light shines
Even though a dimmer candle
Hoping freedom will sit again upon the homeland mantle
We are little but mighty if we believe
American genes do not retrieve
But carry onward and give the small man voice
And fight with peace to keep our choice

Charleen Richey
2021