The American Dream

We catch the wind, our hands flung wide,
Coasting the coastline, eyes open wide,
For now, the sun sits just right.

We have a house, a dog, a yard-
The American Dream doesn’t seem so far.
But they give our cage this name
To make us feel free.

Just wait and see.
When the seasons change, the shadows will grow,
And we’ll realize there was never enough for us all.

We’ll fall to our knees, then crawl through the dust,
Choking on the remnants of paid out politicians promises and broken trust,
Scavenging scraps from the tables of the rich-
Like rats drawn to crumbs, like birds to a corpse, that's what they see.

We tell ourselves we’re free,
And the illusion tastes so sweet,
While lead-lined wires pull tight
Around the ankles of our feet.

A numbered wallet in a surveillance state,
We’re all buying time just to keep our place.
Blinded by the screens that spiral and spin,
Pretty colors that keep us locked in a dazed grin.

A dying young man lies on a motel floor,
His final hit carrying him further from shore.
In his final moments, he sees what it is
The cage we mistook for liberty.

The name that once made us feel free,
Until the curtain fell and the fields lay dead,
Until sick farmers were turned away from hospital beds,
Until we saw the blood spilled overseas-
The children killed who shared our hopes and dreams,
All sacrificed for some made up “promised land”
Built in the name of the white man.