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When Dreams Die
Stepping into World War Two, in a role no one else would
Your presence filling bright red shoes, in a way no one else could
Helping your Allies see it through, knowing that their cause was good
Ensuring peace and freedom grew, in a way you knew it should
Liberties defender
Will return to sender
Any threat to end her
Captain America, Star Spangled Avenger
Trapped in the ice for twenty years, you return to a world so strange
Thawed out to help heroic peers, to help revive a world that's changed
The stars and stripes can't hide your fears, of a national vice unrestrained
Red White and Blue soaked through with tears, as you feel your countries pain
Truths protector
Pays the debt collector
Sent from the private sector
Captain America, Star Strangled Defector
The star that was your crest
Should've been a Kevlar vest
Instead just a target on your chest
Gun crime culture did the rest
Our ignorance failed the test
The day we killed our best
Supporting the fights that were not yours, you find that you've lost belief
Pointless deaths and the pointless wars, bury a patriot in his grief
You find that you have no more cause, stolen by a government thief
Sentinel of liberty lives no more, a blank headstone with no reef
Freedoms martyr
Couldn't try any harder
Hopes preacher
Found he couldn't reach us
Uncle Sam's lease
Expires to the pleas
Of a hero on his knees
Captain America, Rest In Peace
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Loved the piece, here's my two cents.
Cap always stood for the American ideal and never the American way, this is why he worked. Little has been written about Cap's start to life, I like to think his parents fled / came to America to give thier son a better chance at life, because the embodiment of the USA should be a better life for immigrants regardless of race, creed or religion and it would also act as a great metaphor for the recently settled Jewish creators Jack Kirby and Joe Simon.
One of my friends once called me a patriot, just not to my own country (I'm a Brit) as I've always loved the idea of America. I still do, even though like most I am not a fan of what its become.
But let's look at the facts, it's not Bush, it wasn't September 11th and it's not because it's trendy to be anti-American (although I am sure that's why a lot of people say they don't). The country has had problems all through the 20th century, Nixon, 'Nam, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, JFK / Monroe, refusing to get involved in WW2 until Japan bought them into it. The country has been built on a steady diet of fear and lies.
But the IDEA behind America stands, no matter how corrupt the actuality, and an idea can never die.
Now, more than ever, the US needs Captain America. And this is why Captain America can never die.
Because even if your country refuses to stand for anything, refuses to hold true to truth, jutice and liberty: one man still can. |
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Comment by: Teri - 2006-09-03 14:56
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... the American way.
It died in 2000, IMO.
Great poem. I love the way I can hear this as music with words instead of just words. I've read a lot of things about America and how the world views us. I've disagreed with some, stood and cheered with others. Yours? I'm typing this standing on my desk chair and hooting.
Sorry to anyone who reads this and thinks I may be unpatriotic, but I'm hoping to get our pride in our country back, and sooner than later. Wonderful work, Sir Stuart. Thanks for reminding us what we need to remember. T. xo |
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Strong write start to finish, but "The star that was your crest / Shouldâ??ve been a Kevlar vest / Instead just a target on your chest / Gun crime culture did the rest" and the final stanza were the parts that stood out most for me.
Powerful and moving two-fold obituary: both a personal tragedy (the demise of one character) and a political tragedy (the death of truth, justice and... you know the rest). |
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