“Can you hear me?” I choke out through jagged breaths 

I watch the world I’d once known crumble into ashes as an odious ringing invades my ears

all around me is burning but I stood there frozen 

“Yes, we hear you” 

“Can you see me?” I say as I walk in my cellophane skin 

ostracized by my family and peers I feel the weight of the world on my invisible shoulders 

I breathe, eat, and sleep like a human, don’t I love the same as you?

“Yes, we see you” 

“Can you defend me?” I whisper in my cushioned, leather seat 

in a room built on the telling the truth, I hear nothing but lies 

while he is still intact I feel his touch shatter my body when he walks out, unshackled 

“Yes, we’ll defend you” 

“Can you stand by me?” I scream through the burning of my throat 

if there is light in my life why am I treated as the darkness they see? 

what hope is left for my sinking ship if no one believes I can float?

“Yes, we’ll stand by you”

We are the ones who hear and see you 

We are the flags that fly despite the voices below 

We are one, united, and whole 

We are America