I thought I knew the dream
That everlasting faithful thing
Full of naive hopes for deluded minds
To tell such a lie should be a crime
I thought I knew the dream was alive
I saw it in pictures magazines on the screen
Atop skyscrapers on billboards forever in motion on TV
I thought America stood for much more
than false hopes and apathetic ghosts
Soulless leeches devouring us inside-out
Malicious tapeworms hungry for more
Eager for bloodshed, poverty, and scorn
We blame ourselves for their mistakes
I thought America cared about its faults
But it seems most are afraid to even talk
Afraid to engage and question what we're dealt
Fearful of learning, seeking,
Fearful of speaking the truth
So that we may earn our place in the world
And not in the slums and the ghettos
Yet we cast the merciless blind eye,
The superficial tone, savoring the jokes
We must laugh at even though
We are numbed cold to the bone
With "Reality TV" and computer screens
Celebrities and instant anything, everything
Fashion trends to follow and lesser known trends to ignore
If this is bliss
I must be ill
Sick in the head
If this is happiness
This is not the American Dream
I've heard of many times
I've dreamt of many times
I've yearned for nearly all my life
This is nothing close
This is a disgrace
What a waste
To believe in something no longer robust,
Dying painfully on her corporate deathbed,
Assuage me please--for I still want to believe--the American Dream!
