My country tis of thee

Wish you'd stop shooting me

And all my kin

All made from the same clay

No matter what you say

Let's live to see another day

Far away from sin

-

I would like to be proud of this land and the people who live therein

Those who boast liberty and justice, just as it says there on the tin.

Some of you might be surprised or shocked at what you're about to learn

That the light that beckons all to go west and move forward no longer burns

As brightly as you'd guess - I guess, yes, America has taken some strides

For it brandishes beautiful red, white and blue on its windblown flags of pride.

But take a look at those colors and check the America that we live in - 

You may just find that a different definition of these colors has been given.

Let's begin with the boldest of colors, that rebellious shade of red

The shade that remembers the soldiers who fought for our freedom, their blood was shed

It seems they died in vain, because we're still getting shot down for no reason

They must think we're deer, for they kill us here and call it "hunting season."

We see the red as it pours out of hearts that could have made the difference

But their mouths have been closed, their time cut short, they can put up no resistance

So we insist on their behalf that their lives were not in vain

And we ache as a people, for we've loved and lost again

And not because of a sickness you can diagnose, an illness you can see

Not due to natural causes and pauses on breath, not aging out peacefully

NO! It's due to the sickness that plagues a heart and lets it show such scorn

The illness that kills an innocent human being, that makes a family mourn

Because whether black or white or in between, pain is pain is pain

And a life which has been stolen with such spite can never be regained

Ah, but I digress. I'll press forward to the second hue

It's true, we've got to take a moment to observe the color blue

Blue is calm like the tiny little wave that gently approaches the shore

Blue is bright as the sky of a beautiful day - but wait, there's more.

Blue is the color we feel when we try to climb the societal ladder

And we're told, "you don't belong up here" as if our lives don't even matter.

For years, Americans have sung the blues, and I think I know why.

When you know the system is working against you, why should you even try?

Why bother trying to change things if you're just one more drop in the ocean?

What's the point of constantly struggling when your country can't understand the notion

Of someone from nothing rising to something and deconstructing the confines

Of what we are "supposed" to live up to? Why try to change their minds?

The answer to my query comes in this color, one ever angelic and bright

If you've figured it out (which I'll bet you have) this last color is white.

There are several ways to go with white, more ways than one might think.

(But if I covered that white, I might have to fight with some shades of orange and pink.)

So, straying away from the common temptation to use a more negative trope,

It is my conviction that white's definition should align with purity and hope.

Think of the children, their futures bright, their hearts not yet stained with hate

There's still time for them to learn to love - it is not yet too late.

We fight for them, make things right for them, because we are looking ahead

To the legacy we'll leave behind, the country they'll carry in our stead

And what of their America? What will their America be?

Will it be the home of the really brave, and the land of the truly free?

Land of the free and home of the brave - I ask because "brave" for our nation

Is electing a tyrant into office and causing a mass annihilation

Of nations on nations of races, of histories, cultures that some folk don't care to care for

Of those who work to their last breath and see death and they find that no one is ever there for 

Their kind! Their minds are on the grind, and they find themselves always at odds

With one nation that claims it preaches possibilities, justice and liberty under God!

Our tricolor flag should stand for a country where people don't have to live with the fear

Of being massacred for dreaming, when it was the dreamers who got us here!

By God! This America, our America, the nation we clain we dream of

Has to stop the pain and disdain long enough to survive and to thrive as Team Love!

If we can move past the rude stereotypes, take a moment outside our bigoted heads

We'd see beauty in our differences; we'd realize that all blood runs red,

That all hearts have felt blue, and our minds were once pure as the fresh-fallen snow

Before we succumbed to the weight of the world - take it from Elsa and let that go,

Because if we hold to this negativity, our America is doomed

Only love and kindness can save this country from being completely consumed

By evil's clutches that harp on a weakness some of us truly cannot see -

One that clings to darkness and sin, and shuns light, love, and liberty. 

It's up to us to fix this, to find the love somewhere in our hearts

And stitch this country back together, to nevermore be torn apart.

-

This land is your land,

This land is my land,

We are one country,

Together we stand.

So let us learn to

Love one another, 

'Cause this land was made for you and me.

 - T. Dearborne