Imagine America - Rebecca del Rio

[Larry Robinson]

Imagine America 

Imagine America as just one 
person, a neighbor, your doctor,
Your son’s second grade teacher
who appears kind, but whose temper
contains a threat of unnamed, unknown
but fearsome consequence. 

You want to believe their benign 
visage, want to ignore the complaints,
the warnings of those who know them
Now, knew them as the cruel child.
one that cared only for their kind.

Picture America, the man, 
any man one meets online 
who describes himself as handsome,
kind and generous. 
He is plain, which would be enough
but his kindness is bait, sparkling 
moments intent on manipulation,
his generosity calculated for control. 

See America, a lost and ruined
refugee whose only hope is  
the thin thread of other's humanity
hard to see through eyes
blinded by myths and fables.
Imagine America, beginning again
With liberty and justice for all.

      - Rebecca del Rio