We stand up in our highchool classes

Unaware of what's going to happen in the next few months

Oblivious to any sort of patterns we share 

To other propaganda techniques

My class raises their hand to their heart

Plaedging their love to their country

I hold my arms crossed across my chest

Ignoring the angry looks from the teacher who goes along with the the words

"I pledge allegiance

To the flag"

I refuse to lie to look better in class

I hold my tongue

"For the United States of America"

I wonder what's to come

Bodies of the oppressed pushed under the flag

The blood staining the stars

"And to the republic 

For which it stands"

I shake, hearing the police sirens 

Outside the school

It's commonality, we even have our own guard dog wandering the halls

But the sound reminds me of my morality

And the fact that should they suspect me

The rule is considered 'guilty before innocent'

I'm glad that at this age 

I had no way of knowing what the future was to hold

"One nation

Under God"

At the time I had mocked the phrase

Because I wasn't a believer

And now it only sets a bone deep weariness

As more people are attacked 

For their religions that they carry

Their flags they carry are American, now that they're in the country

But the flag with their blood waves on, as a symbol of hope

For murderers instead

The flag no longer is a symbol of freedom

For many people who lived here, it never was

"Indivisible"

I've never heard a funnier statement in a classroom

And it wasn't even meant to be a joke

"One nation under God

With Liberty and Justice for all"

In the future when the statue of Liberty goes dark

And an over-peeled orange

Tweets and rages his way into office

It's clear that this has never been true