THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC

 

A Narrative Poem by Ben Douglass 

Once mighty and proud, we stood so tall,

The American Republic for which we stand,

The city on the hill, a beacon to all.

But time marches on, relentless and true,

And republics eventually fall,

As history will prove.

From golden dreams and boundless skies,

To whispers of discontent

That slowly arises.

The cracks appeared,

Our foundations shaken,

No longer the land of the fearless.

Wars fought for freedom, now tarnished with greed,

Rights once so cherished,

Now lost in the quick authoritarian fix.

The voices unheard, the cries ignored,

A tapestry of power, wealth and greed,

Unraveling and bored.

The streets once bustling with hope

And might, now echo with shadows

Of forgotten fights.

Citizens divided, trust in tatters,

The Republic crumbles

As chaos spreads over the land.

Economics falter, billionaires grow fat

And arrogant, while the rest of us languish

In a world of hurt.

Promises broken, ideals & dreams now stained,

By politicians who govern with

Heart of stone.

Gone are the days of unity of purpose,

Replaced with discord, fear and hate,

A fractured land from sea to sea.

The fall from glory, the descent from on high,

A Republic extinguished,

Lost in the deepest, darkest night.

Yet in the ashes,

Whispers of rebirth, a hope that

Springs from the desolate earth.

For republics may fall, but dreams endure,

A future uncharted,

Where hearts are pure.

So do not mourn the fall,

But lessons learned, from the wreckage

Of what once had been.

For history's tapestry is woven with care,

A reminder that republics

Must always beware.

The rise and fall, an eternal dance,

Of nations and dreams,

Of fate and chance.

As one republic fades into the past,

Another shall someday rise,

And its time shall last.