An Election Lament

The country has waged a full-blown civil war,
but there’s nothing that’s civil about it.

The underground chasms that lay so long dormant 

have surfaced and broaden the rift.

A two party system that forces two sides,

while neither is full friend or full foe.

Demanding decision - come on, where’s allegiance?

Make a choice…cuz the aisle’s now closed.

The vision of eyes has narrowed enough 

that enemy is all that we see.

Unless of course, you have the “good sense”

to only agree with wise me.

We’re force-fed opinions and ear-splitting derisions,

all the while, we dismiss one another.

We can’t insist freedom for our slice of the pie,

while oppressing the life of a brother.

We swallow the thought that louder means lovely

but sometimes, loud is just loud.

With deafening speech and a short-sighted voice,

the decibels shatter our trust.

Parents aren’t havens when drafting their children

so families are torn full apart;

Friendships unravel, relationships scatter,

as words drop like bombs on our hearts.

The keyboard’s become our nuclear codes.

And social media? It’s almost all anti-social.

For we forget that we’re interdependent, 

not made by God as precocial.

Removing the safety, the crosshairs in sight,

sound-off with your words, sons and daughters.

Go ahead, kill me quick, neighbor of mine,

for we’re all being led to the slaughter.

No longer neutral in this no-man’s-land,

where life isn’t meant to exist.

Every square inch has become full-on noxious,

seems futile to try and resist.

To just keep on fighting brings no victory,

for all of us end wounded warriors.

So holding my hands in a silent surrender

I shed my heart’s prejudiced borders.

Retreat, in this case, is not my defeat,

instead it’s the spartan brigade.

For people aren’t targets, they’re not punching bags,

I won’t sling my words like grenades.

So I am defying the conventional orders 

of a most unkempt civil war.

Civil disobedience is my battle cry,

as I seek to give another the floor.

Don’t cut my taxes, instead cut my losses

and I’ll start to reorient my view.

Until freedom and justice is granted for all

this meaningful fight we can choose. 

The most foreign of policies we could ever espouse 

is to fight for the rights of another.

So foe becomes friend, yet again in this land,

and enemy transformed to a brother.

Until we decide to mutiny our fear,

we can’t be the home of the brave.

A country united for the good of each life,

let that be the banner that waves.