How the West Was Lost

A Poem

We held this truth to be self-evident No mere claim to which one gives ascent That this land of ours we called the West Was a desert for the dispossessed

The cynic sages made it plain How whiteness left its horrid stain “Dismantle! Decolonize! Cancel! Disrupt! Tell the privileged caste their rule is up!”

But who before heard freedom ring When men would bleed for rights of kings? Was lady justice on her throne When ancient zealots cast their stones?

Who were they who said ‘no more’? Who said what none had said before That none has rights to rule another So we will strive to call each “brother”

When King dreamt aloud of a righteous new nation And invoked the words of a slave owner’s Declaration Did he not think that worthy of mention? Or are there truths that we must hold in tension?

“We hold these truths to be self-evident?” We scoff; Oh, we know how it really went But could the age-old ways of human kind Simply halt upon a dime?

And who would trade their place in history With those who knew much deeper misery? Or would justice even be the conversation If not for that novel Declaration?

Poetic polemics of inalienable rights Blind leading blind in the longest of nights Then a new rising sun that made refuse of kings Said each man is an end, and never a means

Was that the foundation we sought to dismantle? The legacy of forebears we clamored to cancel “Abolish! Topple! Nail them all to the cross!” And this was how the West was lost

Now we hold this truth to be self-evident That you may not speak, nor dare dissent For this place that we once called the West Is a wasteland of the long-oppressed

For more more detailed thoughts on this poem please take a look at How The West Was Lost — My Notes. And as always, thank you for reading.