A Land That Was

A long, long time ago, not far, far away,

there was a land, so marvelous

multitudes aspired to reach.

If you asked, you were welcomed

and given a chance to escape

poverty, torture, and death,

and blood-thirsty Tyrants’ wrath.

Millions took chances just to reach

the shores of this Marvelous Land,

called the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave,

where all yours dreams could be fulfilled.

If you rolled up your sleeves

and worked very hard,

you could become whatever you wished,

no matter who you were and where you’d come from.

Then one day, darkness fell, upon this Land.

The minions of a new king

defeated his predecessor

who had brought to the Land, prosperity and order.

The people were joyful until that day

when chilling silence swept the joy away.

With the stroke of a pen, the people were silenced.

Lest many platitudes would be offered,

to the new king.

People’s hard work was slandered.

Their ancestries used to separate,

as interlopers, breached their borders

to help the new king, destroy prosperity and order.

How could this have happened

to this marvelous Land

that the multitudes aspired to reach?

Could she ever reclaim her former greatness?

this land of dreams that used to be

a marvelous Land of opportunity?

Perhaps but a fable and no more, it be

about one great leader

and the other, but a feeble king.

But, as you may well know,

be it no more than a fanciful, fictional tale,

it would require in the mixture,

a tablespoon or two, of reality.