America the What?

(This poem can be sung to the song "America the Beautiful.")

America, what's happened here?

You're covered by a cloud.

We're now constrained to shed a tear,

For how can we be proud?

America, you've offered us

Such wonders since your birth.

But now you see how sadly we

Have failed to prove our worth.

America, from east to west

Your history reveals

That in the past we once were blessed

With passionate ideals.

But now we can observe that we

Are burdened by extremes.

Must we regress from hopefulness?

What's happened to our dreams?

America, since early days,

We've grown from cause to cause.

But now we watch as lawmakers

Find ways to bend the laws.

Integrity was once admired,

Equality a goal.

But greed and hate won't make us great.

What's happened to our soul?

America, we'd hoped that you

Would loudly sing your song--

That colors true--red, white, and blue--

Would carry us along.

A crisis looms, the likes of which

We haven't had before.

The case is grave; we've got to save

This land from shore to shore.

-by Bob B (1-21-20)