What happened to Society? What happened to this world?
When we cannot leave our home without precautionary measures.
When we cannot leave our windows down for fear of burglary,
When we fear everything and everyone we pass, What happened?

We fear our kids will be stolen out from under our watchful eye,
so we keep them on in our grip, fearful for the rest of our lives
that they will round that corner before us, never to be seen again.
We are afraid so they must pay the price, never knowing freedom

We fear we will lose our jobs and be on the street, so we avenge
our future job loss before it even happens. Immigrants are berated
for looking for a chance to live merely because we fear for what may
come, and avenge what has yet to happen. What has happened?

We fear our possessions will be stolen from us anytime we leave,
so we never leave their side, taking as much care as with our
children, but what has happened so that worldly possessions are
worth a life? When felony theft gets more time a sexual assault?

We fear our world will come crashing down around us, so we search
every bag at museums and businesses. We fear a child will come into
school with a gun or a knife to take revenge on the bullies that have
hurt him. What has happened to give children the idea that it is okay?

What has happened to this world so that with every fear we have,
we overreact. Instead of fixing problems, we adjust our lives and
blame others. We push it off onto someone else until it bothers us
as well. What has happened so that our world has become like this?

When I was growing up, we were allowed around the neighborhood,
we were allowed to hang out with friends at the park without mom.
What has happened that we fear backpacks and public gatherings,
that we fear bottles more than a few ounces or toy water guns?

What has happened that ten-year-olds have their own cell phones
and young girls are wearing high heels at age three, make up at four?
What has happened to this world? Why must we fear everything we
do not know? What has happened to the world we used to know?

We are imprisoned in our world, imprisoned by our every fear, the
world we used to know shattered, leaving us with the broken pieces.