AVOIDANCE

All I want

is to avoid 

my own thoughts

lately clothed in fear

so pronounced 

they bring me to tears.

It finally must be said

anger fades to grief

when death brazenly nears.

Watching a beloved die,

clutching the hand,

wiping the brow,

for perhaps the last time

applies to nations.

I watch my beloved country

whose solemn vow

has always been protect and defend

all those living within

the boundaries of an idea in place

to open freedom’s gates

to all equally, within its small space.

I hold my nation’s heart and soul

with trembling hands 

and shortened breath.

In painful realization

that so many countrymen

in this amazing nation

fear not, nor mourn with me

the loss of our democracy.

Friends and family alike

smirk and snarl in true delight

the unleashed dogs of fear and fright

which rip apart all we have built

without a trace of grief nor guilt.

They break my heart

as they tear our world apart.