Land of the Free. Home of the Brave
At 7:30
Every morning,
In robotic voices,
We pledge our loyalty to our country.
Are our voices robotic
Because of repetition?
Or because no one wants to pledge their loyalty
To a place where
Those who are not Christians no longer feel safe?
A place where
Those who are not white
Are treated as their grandparents were
50 years ago?
A place where
Our citizens walk on broken glass
Waiting for the sleeping giant of war to awaken?
A place where
Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children
Have to struggle to stay alive?
A place where
Young people are pushed to go to college
But when they do they leave hunched over,
Crippled under the weight of debt?
The land of the free
And the home of the brave
Isn’t so free anymore,
And its people are less inclined to be brave.
America may be better off than other countries,
We can brag about that all we want.
But that doesn’t change the fact
That we have the potential to be more than just “better”.
We have the potential
To be tolerant.
To bring peace for future generations.
To relieve the poor.
And to make education accessible to all.
We have the potential
To once again truly be the land of the free,
And the home of the brave.