America

Cierra Isner

I wrote this piece as in class journal that asked us to write a poem in response to Walt Whitman’s poem “I hear America Singing”, describing how we saw America.

America

I see Americans hiding, feeling that ignorance is bliss.
The news stations control the information,
sparing the threatening scenes;
The children are sheltered,
cruely kept from reality, protected from this crueler world;
The adults ignore the truth,
accepting the facts that are given to them;
The elderly hide in their homes,
afraid for the future of their families.

I feel America slipping, sliding through the cracks.
The government is scheming;
The economy failing,
The people are blind, following the blind.

I hear America wailing, the cries and complaints are clear.
The laborers grumble as they sweat,
their pay has been docked yet again;
The accountants and middlemen whimper,
another day drags on at their nine-to-five jobs;
The CEOs are shouting,
more money is what they demand;
The children are becoming beggars,
the future of this country is a shrill whine for more;
The politicians are silent,
the voice of our people is lost. They hide their schemes, plotting behind closed doors;
But when least expected, at the top of their lungs they exclaim to the crowds,
“Me! I’m your only hope!”Then they fall silent once more.
Everyday is greeted with more complaints,
all have something else gone awry.
Not one is spared from this negative predicament.
All are free in ways taken for granted,
but each hums his sad song about life gone wrong.
Some days I imagine that I hear a soft violin,
sending its heartrending tune floating quietly on a breeze across the world.
Crying for what’s not there, these lost souls forget to give thanks for what they have.

I have hope for America’s tomorrow, that the sun may soon shine through.
Neighbors will once again become neighbors;
Friends will be forever,
because fair-weather will be day to day;
Strangers will share a smile;
the passerby a sweet hello;
Things will start looking up, if we let them.
This much, I know is true.