• This Is The Way The World Ends

    I, too, America

    In the melting pot a few
    Sticky pieces fall and burn
    And few ignorant pieces
    Want to look on and learn

    Stirred together, uncomfortable
    With new spices, we forget
    When we took the plunge
    How bad things can get

    When we are new and alien
    When we were everyone’s joke
    When their words became nooses
    Wrapped around us as we choked

    But then we became they
    And the wooden spoon stirs
    Uncomfortable proximity with others
    Alienation and hatred returns

    I, too, America sang lies
    Let me look upon light no more
    I, too, am a problem, and alien
    Let us forget what was before

    Give me your huddled masses,
    Of prejudice and ignorance
    Stop enjoying this false bliss
    and come to realize this.

    Sticks, stones, and sharp swords
    Hurt less than words from unruly pen
    So what is it that you gain
    When you continue to offend?

    We may not each be,
    Invisible, or easily categorized,
    Or pieces of some recipe
    But we can each be demoralized

    This is the way the world ends
    When we, too, America, whimper
    Say nothing, and let all the hatred
    Fire under the pot and simmer.