This is the first time that I introduce my post to provide proper context for my words. I wrote this piece when I was nineteen and living in New Orleans. It was 2003, before Katrina hit. It was written in Hebrew and I translated it today, something I always wanted to do. In Hebrew the sentences rhyme and the sharp word games are lost in translation. I love America, the United States is my home. I am frightened to think how things are much worse now than they were when I wrote this. I also believe critical thinking is essential to making things better. By better, I mean a lot more happy people. I hope you enjoy my teen mind and thank you for reading.
America.
The land of absurdity,
The most incredible place on earth,
Filled with damned people,
Stumbling drunk
Towards an unknown cause.
Everything can be found here.
Everything,
Except real food
And real conversation.
People of all types are
Seemed to be covered in
Stinking cheddar cheese,
Hot and dripping BBQ sauce,
Slippery oily grease,
And so on.
Groomed streets are hiding
Peopleβs filthy stables.
Radiant waste pouring out
From overflowing trash bins
To the backyard,
To the front of the street.
Mosquitoesβ cruel bites
Leave itchy, blushed scars.
America.
The land where you canβt drink
Under twenty one,
And can drop out of
Elementary school,
Hold a gun and shoot
Without recompense.
Shooting is allowed
And visioning is forbidden.
The land where the risks
Of liquor are sanctified
And the disasters
Of war are veiled.
Young soldiers who kill
Canβt drink to
Ease their pain,
In the land of logic
And liberty.
Drugs are abundant here,
As if they were barrels of
Flour, sugar, baking soda.
Like yeast they
Rise, expand, grow.
America.
The land where
Freedom
Enables you to become
A prisoner.
In order to succeed
One must go through
A world of suffering
And hardship.
Having to prove oneβs self,
Without knowing
The true meaning
Of the words
βproveβ and βselfβ.
Proving,
Not knowing to who.
Proving
Not knowing what.
Education amounts
To zero,
Absolute squat.
There is no future.
Thoughts of big numbers
Belong to the bill holders.
The land where
You grow up
And wish to become
Rich rather than happy,
Rich rather than professional,
Rich fast rather than human.
The hard work is
Disposing dead bodies
Off the road,
To cover for
A murder committed:
Of the body
Or the soul;
Keeping lies hidden,
While they start
To drip out of
Every possible hole
In a human body.
Americans.
Cheap nation
Wasting a fortune.
Education-less,
Ruling the world.
The vigilantes of freedom,
Robbing others of their
Freedom to live.
Great people, kind,
Filled with nothing.
Smiles dripping with
Dumbness, greed,
And unexplained,
Non-contained
Sadness and loneliness.
The ear that doesnβt listen,
Stuffed in
Colorful condiments;
The brain that doesnβt mind,
The mouth that
Knows no taste
Spatting endless, senseless words;
The heart that doesnβt feel,
The heart that doesnβt exist.
America.
The land of endless possibilities,
Incredible views,
Tremendous mountains and valleys
Where God resides,
Mocking his neighbors.
Unappreciated beauty,
Unexercised freedom,
Jesus without God,
Belief without the spiritual,
Alcohol without water,
Drugs without friends,
Children without marriage,
Or at least a home,
Violence without fraternity,
A man without a friend,
Hostility without sisterhood,
Feminism without femininity,
Pointless protests,
Freedom of speech
Without vocabulary.
Bullet to a gun,
Cocaine to a nose,
Drink to a a hand,
Then down a throat,
A girl is pregnant,
Keeping a baby,
And then another one,
And another one.
All the above
Coexist in perfect harmony,
Getting along.
The horrid race war:
Damned them all!
There is only one race,
And Yeshua
Wonβt bring you yeshuah.
America.
A settlement without values,
an emptyless pit,
lacking substance,
In desperate need
To learn
Lifeβs meaning.
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