What Happened To 'my' America? Poem by L MILTON HANKINS

'These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.' --Thomas Paine

In these times, I no longer feel comfortable
In my own skin.
I am, fighting an inner-mind battle, becoming
more cynical,
skeptical,
and saddened by
the crisis of this present generation
with whom I cannot identify.

In the America I knew, the America of my youth,
no one would have seriously considered
challenging the will of fellow-Americans
at the ballot box...
to breach the hallowed halls of Congress
would have been unconscionable...
no, unthinkable!

The America I knew, the America of law and order
would hold accountable the offender,
irregardless of high station,
would never countenance incitement
to riot against the government itself.

The tyranny of our time is, apparently, mob rule.
As Paine said, '...like hell, [it] is not easily conquered; '
but conquer we must
if we are to restore order,
if we are to become, once again,
the America we know and love.