i am screaming,
but i fear
no one can hear me;

they keep stripping
rights away like they are
playing a game of
dominos trying to strike
away every last one—

they’re trying to make
presidents into kings,

when even the founding fathers
as flawed and imperfect as
they were fought to escape a monarchy;

jesus is not the only one weeping—

but my tears are born of wrath,
of anger, of pure and unbridled rage;

i want them to burn the men in
power and to heal the scorching of
the earth—

if we are to have life and liberty
for all,
then we need a new country;
one that isn’t forcing
people to drink dirty water,
have babies they do not want or
cannot afford,
one that isn’t sacrificing childhoods
away for jobs who don’t even
offer a living wage;

this is america?

well, i want a new country;
a better country, a country that is
fair to us all—

i pledge no allegiance to this empire.

___
Linda M. Crate (she/her) is a Pennsylvanian writer whose poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. She has twelve published chapbooks the latest being: Searching Stained Glass Windows For An Answer (Alien Buddha Publishing, December 2022).