America in Circles

America – In Circles

When it comes to aims and goals
Everything goes, once it is our own.
Then we are for the “I” and the “Me”.
But not for the Individual Responsibilities.
For the Fail, we turn away and search
For the Fault and the Blame.
For the Source of the Problem and the Solution
We look to the “Them” and the “They”.
We hate others for their words and their deeds
And then we do the same.
But then it’s alright, it’s justified,
And for that we feel no shame.
For you see, It’s an easy deal,
When you can bury your own hypocrisy.
Sometimes we try to fool ourselves
And try to convince others –
We voted that way
We concluded this and that –
In order to help our Brothers.
But when the consequences of our choices end with trouble
We turn a blind eye
And pretend it’s not there
Until it threatens our bubble.
When Protests arise to highlight a demise
Someone finds fault with the message.
So they change it around and push their own Cause
Until the original message is lessened.
An athlete kneels to the Flag as the Nation’s Anthem played
To bring to light the injustices that for years has stayed
          to haunt Black and Poor Communities
          and keep their people down.
For that his message was kicked to the curb,
And he was knocked to the ground
      – Unproductive
        Wrong place, wrong time
        Be quiet
        Go to the back of the line.
So his message was hijacked.
It was no longer about injustice to Blacks
Instead
      – It’s when you kneel to the American Flag,
        You’re unpatriotic, you’re disrespectful,
        You’re a bad American – That becomes the hashtag.
So injustices continued
We watch more Black men die.
But as a Nation we were spared
The realities of the Black Communities’ silent cries.
Then Covid-19 enters.
It exposed a great divide.
The Black and Poor are dying
At a faster rate than the Privileged and White.
And although they are one of the most vulnerable,
And their Communities are the hardest hit
They’ve been essential and at the Front-line
To bring the Country through this Pandemic.
Across the Nation
Some of the “Haves” became “Have-Nots”.
With loss of job and income
They relied on assistance from the Government.
Maybe it was that feeling of vulnerability,
The confinement and the isolation.
As a captive audience, a series of events shook the Nation.
Now the streets are filled with many
Who are demanding significant changes.
Not just because of the Inequalities and injustices
But to eliminate systemic Racism.
Then the Opposition reared its head again
To drown and change the message.
It’s no longer that Black Lives Matter
It now about Law and Order.
This Law and Order
For whom is it meant –
Yes Citizens. The Police, the President?
But isn’t that the Plight that led to the BLM fight?
The inequality and injustice in the
Who, How, When, Where and Why
That Law and Order applies?
And isn’t that the role of Police
That is still problematic today –
That aggressive and punitive stance
That does not allow for empathy
And intervention that is humane?
This changing of the message and blatant attack at the Cause –
Is this a deliberate strategy to place the power shift on pause?
But again, they fail to acknowledge and deal with the problem
They just replace it with their own.
So our Nation keeps going in circles
And that just stunts its growth.
And we’re back at the start just like this piece
So just start again from the top and read.