Dear Mr. America,

Despite my best efforts to keep away you continue to reel me in

You have wined and dined me

Wooed me with promises of freedom

A better life, a new world

 

You caressed my face with the hands that struck my ancestors

And I trusted you

You brushed my lips with those kissed roughly and left bruises

And I trusted you

I thought we were in love.

 

Truly.

 

And yet here we are

On the brink of an internal implosion

Staring at each other across the frontlines and I hate what you have done to me

You took what faith I had

You made me believe in a fantasy and

You broke my heart

How dare you stand there?

 

How dare you whisper sweet nothings in the ear of the next girl

One hand on her heart the other on the ass of Lady Liberty

How dare you act like the relationship between you and liberty is anything but a ruse

You do not believe in freedom you believe in captivity

You believe in stunted growth

And you do not believe in me

 

You have taken my freedom and presented it as though I should be honored to have it

You have taken my color and painted a canvas of preconceived notions

You have created an art gallery of what you would do to me

A painting of a rope on tree under dim lighting

A picture of a single rusty fountain spewing cloudy water under a sign that reads Colored

 

You have called on me for entertainment and I ran thinking you were everything good in this world

But

Mr. America you are a liar.

You have convinced me that the darkest shadows are hidden under the brightest lights

And you were the sun.

 

I have no home to return to.

You took me before I was born and now I have nowhere to turn

Mr. America you have broken everything and yet

I stay

Waiting for you to return to the man I knew you once were

I imagine you sweeping me in your arms with the familiarity of true love

And I can see your blue eyes reflecting a future for the two of us

And I am happy.

 

But happiness is fleeting

 

Yet I continue to wait like a fool

Thinking it will be different once we have both grown

But you cannot change those who have no desire to

And as we meet for our quadrennial anniversary

You disappointment me once again.