View From America It is a distressing turn of events for any citizen of a purported democracy to find his government acting at odds, not only with his own convictions, but with the very principles on which his Nation was founded and its whole raison d'être. It may be a comfort that equally aggrieved kindred spirits surround him (though their collective will is dismissed), but it is an affront to humanity that the policies he and his friends despise are presented to the world as the unanimous will of the country's people. That is the deplorable situation we rank-and-file Americans find ourselves in. Not only are we ignored by the powers-that-be, joining a chorus of millions filling the streets of Manhattan with loud protest, to find the only people filming us are the police! Not only are we vilified by society's messengers and branded as traitors for being true to our country. Worst of all, we are portrayed on the international stage as bedrock supporters of a thuggish regime and of abhorrent foreign and domestic policies that cause us nothing but revulsion. We are thrust into a topsy-turvy world, where "Peace" means war, "Life" means death, "Creation" means destruction, "Freedom" tyranny. "Democracy" means fascism, "Consent of the Governed" means compulsion of the oppressed, and Christ's sacrificial act means the rape and murder of children. As a Christian, I am as appalled by the blasphemy of my Creator as I am by the blasphemy of my Nation. This divinity of hell has been long in the making, perhaps, but it has certainly reached its apotheosis in the person of that pharisee and white-washed tomb, that unspeakable coward, that monstrous traitor, that raper of widows and killer of orphans, that chief of vipers and hypocrite par excellence, George W. Bush. So this is what real Americans declare -- at least the millions of us who bother to look beneath the mere surface of things and who see our inexorable descent into fascism: "Sod you Bush! Do the world a favor and jump under one of your own cluster bombs, and suck on some depleted uranium while you're at it!" I weep for my nation, I grieve for its soul betrayed, its Constitution slandered, its integrity decayed, its courage diseased. A dear friend asked me: "What can we do to take our country back?" I don't know, but I pray enough of us remain to ask that question. And I pray God we shall succeed. May 2003   The poems on this website are protected by U.S. copyright law and registered with the U.S. Library of Congress. Please direct any requests for publication, in whatever form or medium, to the author, Ian Reed, at tango_poet@hotmail.com (212) 841-0341.