by

I’m sorry
Forgive me for the way I look at you
the associations I make with you
I used to think of you fondly
I thought I knew you
I’m sorry for the lens I see you through
believed the lies they told about you
They told me you were theirs
that they deserve you
Whispered in my ear, waved you in my face
I let them
Heartbreaking what you’ve watched them do
They made you part of that too
Oh say, can you see
dead patriots in your wake
the genocide, murder and rape
You’ve been front row for the ugly and worse
Your glory faded fast
or maybe it never came through
Like a beating, now they’ve turned you black and blue
and constantly disgrace the idea of you
Then piss and moan when we take a knee
The same snowflakes who invented the name
Their cries are diesel in my veins
You’re one of them now and you had no choice
From torn cloaks they formed you
a god to go before them
Just beneath your colors lives their cross and flame
He hopes we forget from where you came
In your shadow they eat, drink, and play
Say they love Jesus, but that’s a lie too
If they pledged allegiance it could actually clean you
and make America the great that it never was
Under God, imagine what we can do
No more blood on trees blood on streets hue
Bodies cold, dumped in rivers blue
It takes a sinner to see one
They know what they do
And at twilight’s last gleaming
we know who we are, with or without you