Samantha Leigh Miller
America Cries
First he said, “lock her up,”
And we cried, “lock her up!”
Then he shouted, “drain the swamp,”
And we cried, “drain the swamp!”
Then he screamed, “build the wall,”
And we cried, “build the wall!”
America cries.
Yes, we have.
Look, they said, his face is glass.
And we cried, we don’t ask.
Listen, they said, his words are air.
And we cried, we don’t care.
Run, they said, his hands are red.
And we cried, it won’t spread.
America cries.
Yes, we will.
Now you say, we didn’t know.
And we sigh, we didn’t know.
And you say, we didn’t see.
And we lie, we didn’t see.
Finally you say, we didn’t trust.
And we die, we didn’t trust.
American cries.
Yes we can
Samantha Leigh Miller is an educator and freelance writer whose creative work has appeared in literary magazines such as Talking Writing, Raving Dove, Peace Chronicle, and Sofa Ink Quarterly. Miller has also coauthored research in peace pedagogy for the journal Teaching of Psychology and presented her work at conferences around the country. She lives and teaches in Pennsylvania, where she strives to help others find their writing voices.
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