A Poem for a Cruel Independence Day

This morning I woke up with some thoughts. This is what I see when I look at the flag and why I still haven’t given up.

In the U.S., mutually assured destruction is more popular than mutual aid.

We vote in Oligarchs who replace doctors with bandaids.

Like fascist missionaries we deploy the military on terrified communities.

The president calls it saving grace.

We’re hated abroad. We fear each other. As we dope up on coffee, weed, pills or drinks to hide our face.

As if to mock those Indigenous to Turtle Island, we send bombs abroad to fund more genocides and hate.

We view the world through winners and losers, instead of as an abundant plate.

Where is the future in a society that refuses to look itself in the mirror and change?

I want to stay. I want you to stay. So I refuse to give up and let things stay the same.

We’ve shed the old chains as we became new financial slaves.

We traded freedom for a flag and sold out our neighbors’ healthcare for a bag.

Happy Independence Day?

In Solidarity,

Deon Osborne