By Bryant Francis
I Love America
Let me tell you about America.
Let me tell you about the land
of the free.
It’s a land of happiness and
apple pies, of bright spring mornings and the Friday
night football game.
It’s the home of capitalism, the
symbol of
freedom.
A flag on every house, a job for
every man
Children laughing, playing in
the streets
The high-school hero gets the
blushing girl next door
Drive in movies
And yet
It’s not true
Let me tell you about America.
Where the rich are the ones who are truly free.
Where the high-school hero spends his
weekends binge drinking and playing beer pong
Where the blushing girl next door is chained by the corporate lies that bind her from birth and turn her into their puppet
The children cannot play in the streets for fear of the beasts that go thump in the night, and the media is keeping the torch lit low that might drive it away, only letting you see its teeth and claws.
The flags on the houses are tainted by fear, symbols whose meaning is decided by someone else, not you, not your family.
The capitalism is a sham, poisoned by those who reach deep within the veins of the governing body, and take what they want, not earning it, not deserving it.
The happiness is achieved by gaining
whatever meager scraps one can gain, the apple pie baked in a factory, the bright spring morning burns as the ozone layer vanishes, and the Friday night football game is filled with policemen to watch for gunmen and killers.
That is not the land of the free.
And yet.
I still love it.
For this is not the America that is; this is the America that was.
This is what has become of the old America.
But let me tell you.
There is a new America being born.
I can only see the whispers of it.
But I love it all the same.
I love the potential, the hope it is bringing.
The people who herald its coming.
And most importantly,
I love the country that is willing to accept this change.
I Love America