When I was 16, I was shocked to my very core,
when John Kennedy was assassinated.
This wasn't supposed to happen in America.

When I was 17, I joined the Army, and soon
learned that the recruiter had mislead me in
what he told me - actually, he had lied to me.
This wasn't supposed to happen in America.

I traveled to Berlin, and saw a bit of Europe,
and was treated nicely by the peoples there,
however, when I returned to the USA
the anger at our government and the military
was quite evident, from the way the people
acted out their frustrations,
and the things they said.
This wasn't supposed to happen in America.

Then I went to war, and learned some things
that I really could have lived without learning,
but for every day, there is a price to pay.
Coming back home again, I was met by
mobs of screaming people, angry people,
not just college kids, but adults, as well-
screaming obscenities, throwing tomatoes at us,
and even spitting on us, as we walked to the terminal.
This wasn't supposed to happen in America.

Once back home again, I looked for a job,
and was met with derision, fear, more anger,
asked how many babies I had killed, and
was lied to by those who held the doors to a job
closed to me, because I was a Vietnam Veteran.
This wasn't supposed to happen in America.

Over the years I have watched as those in
the political arenas, rather than working in
harmony with the intent of taking care of
this beautiful country, instead worked at
tearing at the very heart and guts of it,
caring little for the job they had been elected to do.
This wasn't supposed to happen in America.

Year after year, in towns and villages and cities
all across this once-great land, I watched in
sadness as the industries, the schools,
the children, the workers, the families,
were slowly crushed and drained, and no longer
stood proudly, because of the way things were,
the way their lives were made more and more
difficult,- and they were not able to live
the good life, the American Dream.
This wasn't supposed to happen in America.

Politicians, in our National Capital,
those very individuals we elected to work for us,
to represent us, to oversee the welfare of this
country, to simply "do what was right" for us
....they failed us.
This wasn't supposed to happen in America.

Instead of protecting us, The People,
They made laws to protect themselves,
and they insulated themselves from us,
as they made themselves richer,
beyond any of the dreams of the average
citizen. They had become the elite,
and we were the hardscrabble serfs to their lifestyle.
This wasn't supposed to happen in America.

Today?
I no longer have a lot to smile about.
My faith in my government has been devastated
by an act of Congress, and by the inactivity of Congress;
they would rather play schoolyard bully in the
hallowed halls of our government, and in the
streets of our cities and towns,
where we citizens were made to fear for our
livelihoods, our means of taking care of our families,
and were repeatedly threatened by those in power
of having such things as our retirement or our
Social Security halted, even as prices continued
to rise in the markets.
This wasn't supposed to happen in America.

Those in power had no experience in making a
Small paycheck stretch past the breaking point,
so a family might survive another week, or even
another day. Members of Congress have very
little knowledge of prices in grocery stores,
gas stations, or the reality of affording medicines
or medical care - why should they worry?
They have it all, without any problems,
without any forms to fill out, without any
loss of their dignity or their sense of self-worth.
They have their 'American Dream,' at the
expense of everyone else's dreams.
This wasn't supposed to happen in America.

No matter who is elected the next time,
no matter the promises made,
the pretty phrases spoken,
the good or hidden intentions,
....it will not change.
It never really has changed.
It's just gotten worse, to the point that it
can no longer be hidden, and we, The People,
can no longer ignore it,
but more than likely we will,
we are no longer the citizens of our
Founding Fathers.
we have been beaten down,
we have been slammed up against that brick wall,
so many times, that we can hardly stand alone,
and there is no likelihood of many of us standing
together, so it will continue to be this way.
This was not supposed to happen in America..

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Copyright©2017-1999 by Rebecca R. Hammack

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