Oh say can you see

The home of the brave?

 

I see none.

I see the truth.

I do see, tis true,

Not by dawn’s early light.

No lights springing from the sun’s rays,

But from the silvery beams of the moon.

And bursts of light,

Dancing from a thousand shutters;

A thousand cameras,

Capturing the scene.

To remind us forever

Of the crime we committed

And the “honor” we must

So proudly hail

 

Paramedics rush in

Only to find,

They are too late

Only to find,

Mother on knees

Holding her angel

Holding her boy in her arms

As she watches her son's

Twilight gleam one last time

Broad Shoulders to embrace no more

His bright, starry eyes, locked

Into those of his mother

 

His eyes shut.

The world stops

As we watch him lose

His perilous fight.

 

O’er these ramparts we watch

Ramparts created by the line of armed men

Over walls

Over Physical and emotional walls

We watch.

Silently watching

As he is gallantly streamed

From the privacy of

His home

His Jerusalem

His. Death Bed.

 

Taken out as gallantly

As he walked the Earth

Proud, noble and unafraid.

Unafraid of his truth

 

The moment comes

He’s rushed to the cars.

Silence.

Disbelief.

Realization.

All sweep over the crowd.

 

The only sound left

Is one of pure horror

A sound so ugly and jarring

It was barely heard through the crowd

 

One solitary screech bursting through the air

A blood curdling scream

As his mother falls to her knees

Giving up the fight

One shocking scream slices through the silence

Breaking every heart in the crowd.

The bombastic bellow bursting

Through the air

Confirming what they all knew

Giving them proof

Through the night

That justice, love, and her son

Were no longer there

 

O say he's not gone,

This starry eyed boy

Deemed to be a star in life.

 

Spangled in love

Strangled by hate

Mangled at his own hand

This boy, my friend

Was always full of

Individualism

Beauty

And creativity

This banner boy

Shall never again wave

Or breath.

 

The land of the not so free

And the home of the cowards.

 

The land of be who you are,

Unless you’re different.

 

The home of the barbaric

The home of the beaten.

 

The land of the free

And the home of the brave.

 

Until this day

Until this boy

I believed those words

 

Now in the shadows

Of the aftermath

Of the destruction

 

I lie here pondering

Wondering

Remembering the stories

 

We stand in school

And recite this anthem

But it's nothing but words

 

I think to myself

Day after day

What if I’d been there?

What if I’d given my friendship?

 

I know I didn’t drag

The razor across his wrists

But I watched the blood rushing down his arm

I know I didn’t tie the noose

Around his small neck

But I didn’t do a thing

To loosen the death grip

Viper hold.

They had on him.

 

I am just as much to blame

As the ones who taunted him

Day after day

Leading him to climb on that chair

Begging for his chance at that freedom

Guaranteed to him by his national anthem.

 

I might as well,

Have pushed him off the edge

As the noose tightened

Cutting off all air

In his final rebellion

Against those who beat him down

 

Take my friend’s story

Do with it as you please

But don’t forget

To love those close to you

And those who aren’t

Or they will be gone.

The world will stop.

You will be to blame.

 

The land of the free

And the home of the brave.

 

This was all that I wanted

For my Star Spangled Warrior.