Oh, say, can you see,

blinded by the tear gas

By the dawn's early light,

shining through our body bags as we lay on the street, hitting our 3 hour mark

What so proudly we hailed

do you mean white supremacy?

At the twilight's last gleaming?

 

Whose broad stripes and bright stars,

that never even fucking belonged to us

Through the perilous fight,

of slave whipping and lynching and raping

O'er the ramparts we watched,

with the tears streaming down our face

Were so gallantly streaming?

 

And the rockets' red glare,

just as bright as our prideful blood

The bombs bursting in air,

as the crowd screamed “Black Lives Matter!”

Gave proof through the night

if we made it that far.

That our flag was still there.

sadly.

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

spreading hate and racism with it

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave

land of the free, or land of the deceased?

 

(Authors Note: Poem was inspired by a post that was seen on tumblr quite a while back.)