Grounded

ashes blanket fallen soldiers, karma travels in 360 degreesshoulders become laden with boulders of anxietyarmored personas honor the spirit’s dis-easeswinging the equilibrium into oblivion bringing a nation to its kneeswe seize the east as if we cannot hear it, internal pleas for peaceyet seeking shelter in the swelter of war overseasdoves released but not to return, dreams deceased and left to burnwe seek to teach but fail to learn, life lessons speak but go unheardas we attempt to protect but can’t seem to serveand prevent the event where the scene occurredwe’ve seen the birds american dream deferredas we turn to our weapons direction is undecidedreflection has collided with insurrectioninfection has resided in the direction of the misguided unasked questions leaves us blind-sightedunited we divided and misunderstoodas they huffed and puffed and like wood, gemini tumblesnow we wonder in wanderland why worlds crumblewe choke and stumble on the bittersweet gray smokeof a concrete jungle askingwhy we never saw it coming to americathe truth has been knocking so why do we keep runningmasking ourselves in a mass of hysteriaat the masquerade ball of red, white and blue bannerswe become anonymous in the abyss of metropolisno longer able to save face when face to face with consequencetwo-minute hate to scapegoat some foreign continentsmentally we stay broke forsake hope with more incompetence irrationally we nationally attack with false ideals of dominance trapped in this menagerie of catastrophe we reverewhere casualties come casually and magically disappearalthough reality is not prettyneither is the city when gritty remnants of repercussionsare inhaled and exhaled in frail discussions forbiddenhidden addictions to conflictwe’ve ridden the waves of flags faded into nothingstagnated in the star spangled tangle of contradictionsbroken down into fractions fact becomes fictionreading into the comic strips of politicsfreedom becomes friction high-level restrictionsaccess denied target practice across the atlasas we match wits and hideundisclosed locationsbroadcast it wide on channels of fearthe ink of monsters control the massesthe soul’s casket overflows with tearsand the tubs red from bloodsheddrastic measures taken for yearsmaking the dishonest promises of changes seem nearthe presence of danger is presently clearskyline silhouette permanently disfiguredpolitical magicians make tricks so we strugglethere’s a glitch in the matrixdéjà vu days are fewand we’re seeing doublestanding on piles of rubblewith death in plain viewnow we’re in deep troublea bleeding spirit stains throughand consumes and constrains toowe need to go to our roomsto think about what we’ve done wrongto figure out what’s going onwe have a lot of explaining to do