pledge

page 368 of the dictionary

defined as a commitment, a promise

a vow to never be broken

 

pledge

recited daily by adolescents acting

as consciously as robots

boys and girls alike spewing memorized words

like water from a rusty fountain

 

pledge

a promise so strong that an entire nation bleeds the same 31 words

plastered on walls and billboards

in classrooms and airports

causing disrespect to cower under its stars and stripes

 

pledge

kept alive by americans, preaching superiority

boasting with bald eagles guarding every word

slitting their wrists to reveal red, white, and blue

 

pledge

an oxymoron, a paradox of sorts

an irony, surviving despite its shock waves of destruction

 

pledge

indivisible with liberty and justice for all

where is the justice for the muslims, being dragged out of their own country

treated like terrorists, like prisoners in the land of the free

where is the justice for the immigrants, being torn from their families

daughters left without fathers, sons without mothers

where is the justice for the gay community, told that their love ruins the purity of love itself

forced to hid their sexualities in fear of losing jobs, losing rights, losing lives

where is the justice for women, told what to do with their own bodies by male lawmakers

their lives given less worth than an unconscious embryo

where is the justice for the black men and women, fearing those who serve to protect

losing the lives of their children over the crime of wearing a hooded sweatshirt

where is the justice for the minorities

 

pledge

a broken promise

the mirror of hope shattered

fragments leaving gashes

tearing into the very flesh of its own supporters

 

pledge

a daily reminder

that liberty and justice

isn’t really for all