Freedom

I define myself through the blood on my hands
And not the good intentions that put it there.
An unexpected consequence
Of trying to do the right thing
And one that never washes off.

They told me I would be a hero
Fighting for freedom
But this fight,
Like every fight man has ever waged,
Was all about power.

a pale white hand
perfect, unblemished
save one small drop of blood in its palm
the only part of her untouched
she could have been no more than six

Embrace freedom
Or we will kill you.
That was our battle cry
And none of us questioned it.
We were bred to live a paradox.

They called it manifest destiny
When it was just the Indians
But now America is not enough.
The world is for the taking
If only we can save it from itself.

i tried to save her
they tried to pull me away
bees buzzed all around my head
one almost killed me
just an inch more to the left

We feared that he would attack us,
Not the ones that are in power,
They fear nothing but the truth
But we fools that follow them
We all believed.

They told us all a thousand lies
But instead of anger or hate
We begged for more,
Clamored for a reason
To demonstrate our liberty.

it was pointless
even if they let me be
there was nothing I could do
there was nothing left to save
one perfect hand not withstanding

So I have come home
To the land of my father
And his before,
Land of the bully
And home of the fools.

And should I speak
Would anyone listen
Or would I be listed as a traitor.
How dare I not fall into rank,
How dare I speak my mind.

i caught one final glimpse
as they pulled me away
a woman, maybe her mother
wailing for she knew
that this little one was finally
free