Beautiful life
Springs forth all around
Casting full and glorious aura of goodness
If for but a moment
I would only stop
And appreciate the beauty
Of our world

The deluge,
An electronic barrage
That denigrates our love for all
Blares twenty four hours of every day
Urging to note our differences
Rather than revel
In that which makes us the same
Calling on us to hate
With driving rhythm
While drawing the lines of separation
Around this rock which is our home

When my mortality is no more
It will be victim to a broken spirit
With displaced faith
In the inner goodness of man
Created by God in His own likeness,
But I am yet to arrive
At the junction of surrender
Even though sex is pandered and violence glorified
Instead, I stand quietly
And speak what is true
Wary of gratification in the moment.

When the final dye is cast
If this empire does one day fall
It will be as persons
Seeking individual pleasure
Rather than pride in society
State and country
Legions strong and true
For the privileged elected leaders have failed
To set an example worth following
But have rationalized the pilferage
Of our collective coffers
As rap musicians glamorize slaughter in all of its forms -
Honored targets who wear a badge,
But who is it who might be safe
When fetuses are at risk within the womb,
And our children within their schools,
For there are few who take up the cause
Without being labeled in unflattering expressions
And what once made us collectively proud
Is passé,
As boom boxes vibrate the earth
And mothers draw closely their young
In the failed vision of freedom at work
While fear is cultivated in our neighborhoods
And our Creator silently weeps.