Last night, I awakened
from a dream.
I dreamed of an America
in which those sworn to protect
and serve, abused and killed instead.
An America where hunger turned barbed
wire into shredded wheat and stomachs
became caskets.
An America where masks were discarded
and grown men hid under sheets
as they stormed halls of democracy.
An America who forgot her. history,
her polls claiming hate was history,
an animal extinct like polar ice caps.
An America in which no one told the truth,
no one felt safe getting groceries,
An America where no one escaped the
brutality of law and order run amok
or escaped the massacre in a nightclub,
or a massage parlor,
or a high school,
or a supermarket.
An America that claimed there were “good” nazis,
but- didn’t Uncle Jesse go to war
to stop the goose-stepping in ’44?
An America where a wall grew in a
land that once told a foreign leader
to “tear down this wall.”
An America where hate mongers
quoted the words of Dr. King,
and you were no longer safe at church.
An America whose Statue of Liberty
was silenced, her torch gone cold,
the ashes our new mascara.
An America whose populace quaked,
slouching toward a coming apocalypse.
Was it just a dream?
-Gary K. Farlow