American Cages

I used my best paper to write you a letter,

I threw it in the fire but it made me feel better.

I can’t verbalize what I feel when we bicker,

So I’ll give you my silence and turn to my liquor.

Let the world burn, let it swallow my pages

It won’t make a difference, I’ve been here for ages

I’m just twenty-six, but I’ve been here for ages.

I know I’m a slave when I punch in my card

But at home I’m a dog with no fenced-in backyard.

If I stay in this haze breathing smoke down my lungs,

Will I be less afraid when the government comes?

When they trample our neighbors with tanks and with guns?

Let the world burn, let it swallow my pages

I’ll starve anyway, they won’t give me my wages

I work overtime, but the rich eat my wages

And I can imagine what we two could be

In a world where all people can live equally

I’ll die for my country, for what I believe

And I’ll take my own life before I let you leave.

I’ll kill if I have to, so we can be free.

Let the world burn, let it swallow my pages

They don’t read books for pleasure in American cages

I’ll bleed out for you when the trigger engages,

Takes a long time to die in American cages.