To make this go away, you must say
the trespass against our country’s soul, this sin
you’ve swallowed whole, this sacred fruit
forbidden, feared by founding fathers, hangs
untouched and hidden still within the mist.1
You must deny your weary eyes have seen
this nightmare dream come true, and while
the lies are lit by honest light of day,
lies as thin a substance as the air,
you lie in bed and dream about a truth2
that’s blinded by that awful tempter’s fruit.
To make this go away, you try to say
that you were wayward tourists lured into
a maze of halls, with nothing left to do
but call for death to those who dare oppose
your lie; with nothing left to do but smear
the waste that falls like sewage from your mind
upon the hallowed halls of what you claim
to love; with nothing left to do but use
our flag in violence towards the very souls
who fought and fight for all for which it stands,
who see the valor of their fallen comrades
stained into her tattered stripes of red.3
This is where your blinding lies have led.
To make this go away, we cannot say
we see that lies are truth and truth are lies,
that facts must be denied and buried deep
within these dark days of freedom lost.
There still remains the light of freedom’s flame,
so we must brave the breach4 remembered today
if we want to make this go away.
1
In John Milton’s 'Paradise Lost,' Satan, hidden within a mist, possesses a serpent, then tempts Eve with the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, thus ensuring Man’s fall and banishment from Eden.2
William Shakespeare 'Romeo and Juliet', Act 1, Scene 4.3
The red stripes on the American flag traditionally symbolize valor and hardiness and represent, along with the white stripes, the original 13 colonies.4
President Joe Biden, 'Speech on the January 6th Insurrection,' Statuary Hall, United States Congressional Building. (1/6/2022)