You have become too big,

now I fear

that you will fail, spectacularly,

with liberty in hiding

and the prospect of internal war

grinding,

dividing,

chomping and salivating over your soul;

you are flat-lining in the heartlands

and the political elite never understood why,

you rebelled for a while

before falling into a coma

one autumn day.

Break apart, you

cannot live together in peace

and the bullet will surely

now seek revenge

upon revenge

upon revenge;

till in the midst of four Presidents

you grieve in sand and dust

and hold hands

about how big you became

and forgot your roots.

Ian D. Hall 2016