A thought-provoking political poem about Uncle Sam waking up in the dirt.

Uncle Sam awakens to find himself
lying face-down in the dirt. All battered
and bruised, he sits up to find himself
surrounded. Quickly all have scattered.

“Don’t y’all recognize me? I’m your friend.
Why are you running away?” Then, he
looks up to see that he has fallen from
his lofty perch. “Oh my, how can that be?”

One old friend timidly approaches to say,
“You’ve changed. We are all afraid of you now.
Where once you stood for truth and fair play,
for peace and honor, those you now disavow.”

Shocked, Uncle Sam replies, “Surely you’re
mistaken. I’ve always set the high mark.”
His old friend says, “Now you tell lies about
others as the spark into warfare to embark.

“You no longer condemn using torture
but use it yourself. Likewise, no longer
do you champion the individual’s rights.
The world’s distrust of you is much stronger.

“You run foreign prisons, denying legal rights
to your detainees. A climate of fear
you maintain to justify ignoring your own
Constitution. You’ve lost what once was dear.”

Shaken, Uncle Sam cries, “What has happened
to me? I don’t recognize myself anymore.
Me a liar, someone who makes unprovoked
attacks, who tortures…these I used to abhor.”

Uncle Sam stands and brushes away the dirt.
Then, speaking as he straightens to full height,
“I’m ashamed at how I have recently acted.
To become my old self, I‘ll try with all my might.”

His old friends all gather close around.
“Having you back as you were will be great.
It was painful watching you go so far astray.
Thankfully, you awoke before it was too late.”