America's Death

All now is gone in the heat of the blast
And the mushrooming afterglow;
Her future is now a thing of the past
As time moves from rapid to slow.

The land that was once the world's best hope
Is forever now ruined for all;
Her promise of greatness and unbridled scope
Now slumbers in ashes and pall.

Now swept away is the Mayflower's trek
With its sailors of strength and of vision
Gone now alway in the ruin and wreck
Of her leadership's gross dereliction.

Away from us now is the genius of man
Who created the great Constitution;
Who, with Jefferson, vowed "We can!"
And proposed to propel a great nation.

Gone now as well are the dim memories
Of Longfellow, Sandburg and Poe;
Of Paul Revere's Ride and Annabelle Lee
And Chicago's hot, brawny torso.

A nation which stood for hundreds of years...
A nation which served as a beacon
To those who toiled with blood, sweat and tears
And offered the promise of freedom.

A nation which fought both with Blue and with Gray,
Spilling volumes of heroic blood;
Which mightily strove for equality's way,
Damming prejudice's historic flood.

Who fought two World Wars for the good of mankind,
Who gave the world lasers and drugs;
Whose generous nature's now Gone With the Wind...
Whose great deeds are now but a shrug.

Away, yes away! Away now forever!
Awash and forgot, gone the whole lot...
The prince's and pirate's and poet's endeavor
Erased in the blast of the shot!

Sons and daughters, grandaughters and sons,
So loved by their fathers and mothers;
Now sleep like the dead under dust by the tons
Or exist in a hell like no other.

This is what happens when vigilance wanes;
The end price of failing to lead...
America's greatness now fallen and slain
While CHINA advances HER creed!

(C) 1998 Clint Ellison