I Watched My Country Burn

I watched my country burn to the ground

And as it did

It was like everything became a deafening sound

I cried, I screamed, I prayed, I stayed

Resilient to the end and resisting the face

of a monster who came upon my land and such disgrace

And the people they cried and some laughed and some defied

But it seems to me that the end of it all

left me bearing witness to a great and epic fall

Such things are of nightmares and

dreams hold hope to seek through

But sometimes it feels like you’ve lost sight of everything

Me and you.

What difference does this activism and advocacy make?

If every single painstaking labor is met with defiant mockery

And time and time again we push and we push but they

Still seem to expand

Suspended and vetoed, throw it all back in our face again

And then money for things that never before seem it matter

Is suddenly coughed up upon the table

When, wait, on the street, the tents and the bellies empty

And the budgets cut, and the programs to educate gone

And I wonder what is the greatness of a country torn apart from within?

By ignorance and arrogance, I feel it’s the worst of sin.

And children starve and laborers are detained.

And people are passing and perishing

Seems like it’s all in vain, but even so should I desist

What would happen then?

Because I know the people with their characters in this

These aren’t good men and women

The lack of compassion and empathy

Being called something bad has led us to a place

That’s so much worse than sad

Sadness and depression

And oppression, and violence and bloodshed

With flooding lands, and lack of support

The things we’ve done to the children in this nation

So many think was once great

Makes me wonder if they understand the severity of that weight?

For the children of the future

The past, and the present all combined

What you once were, what I once was

The innocence of such things.

The hope for this dream of possibility and potential

Stricken away by the choices of the foolish adults in command

And yet the people on the United States they still fail to understand

Then people say how it could be, something so starkly shocking could

Could rip apart a facade, but if the only good thing here is the future that

Has yet to rise

I think we ought to step back because they’re gonna bring us in for a surprise

Because upon the heads of children you’re writing checks you cannot afford

And someday you’ll have to pay for not just what you did

But also what you didn’t say

Were you complicit?

Or did you wake up?

Did you come to understand a charlatan has been at the helm

Holding out their hand

And they never care what that costs you

See all they need is your ignorance and support

So that they can get through the door

And push out the monstrosity that you now see

Wreaking havoc in our streets

And I just wonder as you lay down at night

Pulling up your blankets and your sheets

What will happen when they come for you

And pull out all the stops

Beneath your feet?

© 2025 Sai Marie Johnson