Thread by @WriterRaptor

A Heartfelt Plea To The People Of The Land Of The Free

A Twitter Poem Thread

By Cris, a writer person

Can you see, by the dawn's early light
Those saying a prayer to the Stars And Stripes?
To their flag, they pledge their life & allegiance
Trading their free will for slavish obedience.

During the national anthem, you can't kneel
Instead, you must stand there, heel to heel.
As they sing: in your nation you're free
To be what MAGA says you must be.

Is this truly the land of the brave?
Where white cops send innocent black men to their grave?
Because blue lives matter, they say
As they gun down all who stand in their way.

Not all black men are innocent, comes the cry,
What of the guilty, shouldn't they die?
State sanctioned murder is still murder, I reply
But stop for a moment and ask yourself why-

Why a black teen gets 15 years for stealing shoes
And a white rapist is free after months #FakeNews!
“Different judges, different crimes, his friend had a gun,”
Say those who think assault rifles are fun.

And when kids are again gunned down at school,
Those voices shout up, ever so cruel.
“That's not what AR means,” they will say
As if that is the pertinent fact of the day.

Do they care that these kids are now dead?
Does that fact at all enter their head?
While the poor die at home of a curable disease
Their family begs #GoFundMe, save them, please.

And immigrant kids are torn from a mothers arm
To go to a camp, safe from all harm
What if that was your son or daughter?
While we watch as Hawaii's volcano burns hotter

Puerto Rico is without power, too
Wait, are they even American? Are you?
This is not the America I once knew
Where the stars and stripes so proudly flew.

To the world, you seemed a guiding light
An example of truth, justice, and doing things right.
You sought the stars, put men on the moon
Fought against Nazis on the sixth of June.

The leader of the Free World, so you say
Where are you leading the world today?
Back to slavery, if Pence has his way?
Making it illegal for people to be gay?

I wear my rainbow out with pride
And where there's bigotry I'll gladly fight
But when the bigot is president it doesn't seem right
To still call America the world's guiding light.

You fought against Nazis in the “war to end war”
But with Nazis in the White House, what was it for?
In Hollywood movies the good guys will win
Meanwhile, in reality, the Nazis are again voted in.

Captain America, Superman, Bill and Ted
These are the images I want in my head
Though more diversity would be welcome, instead
I have the KKK, racism, and school kids are dead.

Is this what you want the world to see?
Fighting over bathrooms and who is really he or she
Whilst DeNiro shouts #FuckTrump at an awards show
And Stormy Daniels took it literally, you know

Except that she didn't, because she was before
But I have rhyme schemes I can't just ignore
And artistic licence says I do as I must
Besides, does it really matter who he fucked first?

Unless, of course, it was his own daughter
PS, Flint, Michigan, #STILLWITHOUTWATER
Whatever happened to the American Dream?
Don't ask those on the make America great team.

They see it coming with every black death
Whilst blaming societies ills on the left
They cheer when immigrants kids are seized
Their allegedly Christian hearts super-pleased.

Meanwhile, the native's “sovereign” reservations
Are home to government sanctioned deprivations
Education is poor, sexual abuse and poverty high
And double the national average of suicide makes me cry.

It's not that the American Dream can die
It never existed, it was always a lie
Stretch Armstrong, Buzz Lightyear, first men on the moon
A bare year after Martin Luther King was taken too soon.

The Fall of the American Dream reverbates
Around the world, a void it creates
China on the rise, has it's eyes on the prize
Whilst Putin infiltrates DC with his spies.

Trump wants to negotiate lasting peace with NK
Quickly as possible, though, he has more golf to play
Oh, did I say, Canada's the real threat to you
Or at least, Trump feels threatened by hunky Trudeau.

Are you wondering how much more can there be?
Struth, the length of this thing surprised even me.
I thought I'd write a verse or two
But this damn poem just grew and grew.

There's so much to say and I just cannot stop
I'm building a brand like The-Restaurant-Formerly-Known-As-IHOP
Like a magician's trick sleight-of-hand
This is all a distraction, do you understand?

The trade war, the sexism, the Korean condoes
As America sinks to the lowest of lows
And Trump's tweets grow ever more insane
You have to wonder, what game is he playin'?

But this isn't just a list of what's wrong
With Trump's desperate attempts to make America strong
This is a solemn heartfelt honest plea
To the home of the brave and the land of the free.

And the people that make both those things true
This is a plea from my heart to you
To do whatever you can, whatever may be
To make your country truly the land of the free.

Kneel during the anthem, or stand on your head
Whatever it takes to get your protests heard
If you're a cop, remember all the time
A person's skin colour is never a crime.

And after the next school shooting
Think of the comfort your words won't bring
And those dead kid's parents not-delight
When you say: “Actually, AR means Armalite.”

For God's sake, man, kids are dead
Get that through your pedantic head
The right word is important, I'll agree
I mean, I'm writing a poem, I kind of have to.

...

...

...

Did the lack of a rhyme just upset you?
I hope so, since it was sincerely meant to.
But it perfectly illustrates the point I wanted to make
The right word is important, but not when kids are dead, for God's sake.

What can you do to help the poor and the ill?
I wish I had answers, wisdom to spill
I don't even have funds for their hospital fees
I just pass on their requests through Go Fund Me RTs.

Its not nearly enough, I know that myself
And I worry about poor Americans with ill health
You need to fix this, and I don't mean through prayer
Isn't it PATRIOTIC to #SaveAmericanLives and show that you care?

I worry more about immigrants' kids snatched from their family's side
Not the fourteen seventy-five kids who escaped, but the ones that abide
And are to be gathered in camps so they're not “lost”
As America prepares for the reality show The Next Great Holocaust.

Some problems seem easier to end
Surely Fint's pipes aren't that hard to mend?
Admittedly it's tricky when problems can't just be shot
But put down the guns for five minutes and see what you've got.

Is it really going to be a surprise
If, with the guns down, no kid dies?
Yes, they could be killed by car or knife
But bullets won't end a single life.

You pumped out propaganda to the world at large
Hollywood's darling, always in charge.
When aliens threaten, the president has a plan
(It's usually “shoot them,” but then, he is American)

You made us believe in the home of the brave
Convinced us to ignore it was built up by slaves
Sold us the lie that was all in your past
More fool us for believing so fast.

I still believe the lie I was sold
That American streets are paved with real gold
That anyone can make it because society is capitalist
I missed the small-print: must be white, male, straight, & love Christ.

Okay, I'll admit it, that last rhyme was poor
(something something) paedophile (something) Roy Moore
That wasn't libel, I'll ask you to note
I never said “he's a child molesting old goat.”

When the chips are down and the facts are in
Only the 1% ever win
But if I must lose I'll do so with ill grace
Burning the flag, spitting in Drumpf's face.

Respect the office, I'm constantly told
Forget for a moment, lives bought and sold
“Grab them by the pussy!” shouts the cheeto-in-chief
Respect the office? That beggars belief.

Again I must turn to my earlier plea
To those who believe in freedom, truth, and liberty.
To do what you must, whatever it takes
To make America great for all of our sakes.

For whilst we stand in countries afar
Mocking the tantrums of President Toddler
(it rhymes with my accent, I do solemnly swear)
We're mocking mostly to hide our own fear.

To the biggest moron that America could find
You gave nuclear weapons, and the future of mankind
And now we stand on war's precipice
As America stares into the abyss.

As Nietzche said, the abyss stares into you
You fought the world's monsters, and became one too
And if all this leads up to another world war
Ask yourself this, who do the good guys fight for?

These are the words I feel I must share
To tell you all I truly do care
And I believe in the Land of the Free
Such a great country America could be.

Maybe it will happen in my lifetime
A land where punishment isn't by colour, but crime,
Where the death of a kid is a reason for horror
And 20 deaths is not considered just “another”

School shooting, where a woman's body's her own
And she makes the choice to abort alone
Or with her partner, if thats her decision
A country where it isn't just black men in prison.

Where immigrants can expect a high standard of living
I mean, isn't that the point of your own thanksgiving?
Where rape culture is over, and incels are gone,
Because men respect women and WE ALL JUST GET ON.

This is the America I want to see
The home of the brave, and the land of the free
And this is the reason for my heartfelt plea
To all of you, please be the best you can be.

~fin~

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