At What Price, Freedom?

Impressions: in Red, White, and Blue

we were born into this,

nurtured, raised

in belief that some types of killings aren’t wrong,

some deaths are hindrance to terror,

and duty trumps murder

every time,

‘war crimes’ is a relative term

for which the enforcer can never be convicted,

so we turn blind eye to

similar sins,

knowing sometimes violence

cannot be prevented

at least, this is what we tell ourselves,

in order to sleep at night on

colluded beds,

because even if we never pull one trigger

we applaud the round

that cuts down the head

it’s a dark and thankless feeling

in the moment when you know what exists

behind the system,

where evil and good are identical twins,

too hard to tell

the difference

I will always love my country,

but I hate the way it holds against my tongue,

like some unheard profanity

fighting to leak out,

vulgar, seeking to

lash and destroy,

as kids, we learn we must

whisper bad words,

and there are places where America

is the ultimate curse,

bringer of tears,

utterance of death,

so bad, its name is whispered reminder

a sudden loss of breath

for we are a nation that openly

counts the hands we feed,

overlooking the ones we boldly cut off,

bravado, as if lesser evil

doesn’t reek the same, or some forms of

filth are easier to wash off

we will ache for a day when

all our wars end,

and we will attempt to mend

our broken name,

we will try to erase nightmares

patch-worked beneath our lids,

after we’ve put down our guns,

packed up our honor,

and tried to wash the blood that stains,

will we teach our kids the truth of this nature?

how patriotism is often death to save life,

necessary torture,

or an awkward beast,

we have stuck our teeth into the heart of

this world,

will we teach them how freedom

almost never means peace?