A Nation Divided

Time slips by,
the broken glass of mirrored pains
show us what has become,
divided edges draw the lines
across a face in pain, a nation
fractured by days of shame.

We watched Olympus burn, and then
watched as tempers stormed the gate,
two fights,
one for freedom, one for power,
both now carry pain and shame
yet for different reasons,
and scar our thought of what
we know ourselves to be.

Passions flare, yet few hear
as unions divide, set aside,
by selfish pride and basic needs.

Why do we do this to ourselves?
What have we become so afraid of?
When did we become so afraid?

Storms are battering the gates,
the halls of justice now are drained
as we fight over who gets favors
and who gets left with the blame?

And how do we defend ourselves?
Paper walls put up in haste as
fevered storms press upon the gate.
We have built up our defenses,
not knowing the enemy was us.

We have destroyed the very thing
that is keeping us still alive.
we fight against ourselves,
our survival, our traditions,
and we are the only ones to blame.

Two sides divided,
one looking inward, one looking out,
yet both one and the same.

This is the dying of an age.
We witness democracy’s final stage.