They Call it America

here we are in a

land of the strangest People.

here we are in

america.

what lies and passions

what trampled dirt path

has brought us here?

what will it take for rain

to heal the land and

silence the lament of the ocean?

dream, they say,

we will show you how.

no one looks down

to the guilt that collects beneath them.

america is nailed to the sky,

and no one looks down.

somewhere aside from this place,

another man chokes to death

on the putrid smoke of dreaming.

another nameless someone

drags his body away.

we are not as strong as we think

we are. we are only People,

only our stifled selves.