In the land of the free, and home of the brave,
Where we’re stuck in traffic, and work like a slave,
We’re floating on a rock, in this cosmic parade,
Paying bills and taxes, for the life we’ve made.
America, America, what a wild ride,
Where dreams can be bought, and truth can be lied,
English, oh English, you make no sense,
With rules and exceptions, your chaos immense.
You tell me to “read,” but what do you mean?
Is it “reed” like a plant, or “red” like a scene?
And don’t get me started on “lead” and “led,”
Homophones galore, they mess with my head.
In a world so diverse, with cultures so grand,
Why is blackness still feared across every land?
From Congo to Compton, from Paris to Perth,
Black skin is a target, a curse since birth.
A hundred years hence, we fought for our rights,
But still, we’re in shadows, still, we’re in fights.
Trayvon, Breonna, and names too long,
A litany of lost lives, the same sad song.
Yet here we are, on this big blue sphere,
Laughing and crying, in love and in fear,
With news feeds that rage, and memes that delight,
We’re plugged in and tuned out, from morning to night.
We’re expected to care, yet numb to the core,
As we swipe, and we scroll, always wanting more,
Attention divided, in this digital age,
Where the wise are a tweet, and the foolish a rage.
We’re told to stay woke, but not lose our minds,
To march for our rights, but stay in the lines,
To hustle and grind, yet find inner peace,
To save for the future, but not miss the feast.
We dance on the edge, of a world so absurd,
Where truth is a whisper, and lies are a word,
In a system that’s broken, but demands our respect,
We question, we ponder, “What did you expect?”
From student loans to mortgage woes,
From health care fights, to fashion shows,
We juggle it all, with a cynical grin,
Playing the game, that no one can win.
In this modern age, where logic is flawed,
Where humanity’s lost, yet we’re awed by God,
We grapple with meaning, in this cosmic dance,
Wondering if this chaos, is all just by chance.
So, here’s to the madness, to the wild ride we face,
To living and loving, in this frantic space,
What the fuck are you talking about, we shout to the void,
As we laugh, and we cry and try to avoid.
The weight of the world, on our tired backs,
The stress of it all, as we follow the tracks,
Of a life that’s surreal, yet somehow so real,
We cope with the crazy, and hope to heal.
So, let’s toast to the chaos, the absurdity we see,
In the land of the free, where nothing is free,
What the fuck are you talking about, we say with a grin,
In this beautiful mess, we’re all living in.
