America the Exceptional
Copyright 2003 Stan Lyness
America the Exceptional:
She's a goal, not a given:
an unimperial empire
a leader not a bully
who the world's best inspires,
a light that leads the world,
without shining in parked cars,
a weight not lightly thrown around
at drunken boasts in bars.
America the Exceptional:
She now shivers in a foxhole
pinned down by friendly fire
from the leaders who would drag her
bound yet struggling, through the mire
to wage offensive battle
not for justice nor for law,
but for hastily built doctrine
made up as we go along.
America the Exceptional:
She needs us now to save her
from triumph's fatal cost
where less is won than battlefields
and more than allies lost.
