Dust or Stardust

Always been there
greed indifference materialism
a string of pearls a sip of champagne
a mansion
the contrast between the self-absorbed
and community in all its forms
the nurse the teacher the day laborer
between those who are out for number one
and those who are filled with compassion
for fellow beings human and animal
 sick or sad or alone
ours is a country born in greed
the quest for property for rare metals
to dazzle kings to increase their lands
ours is a country built on conquest
on lies  to native inhabitants
lies to tribes in touch with their lands
fellow beings whose lives we destroyed
a country built on slave labor  by
Africans torn from their land and each other
a country whose greed demanded
independence but gave us leaders who
for all their wisdom perpetuated greed
materialism and the accumulation
of wealth of property no matter the
suffering of millions

What is there in our nation that makes us
think that we are a good people
religion has been the damnation of all
who have not conformed to the rules
by the rich powerful who believe in
the divine right of kings now we call
the one percent who ignore with disdain
the words of the holy men they profess
to love and obey
falsehood eats the heart of our nation
art of every kind has failed to enlighten
either echoing the lies of religion
or presenting a beauty and compassion
looked at as mere luxury an irony lost
on materialists
Our literature has given us a truth few
comprehend our disharmony with nature
our violence and warlike hatred our
bigotry our shortsightedness our stupidity
truth from Melville Twain Whitman
voices so intimate to us who read that we
weep for the deafness in our neighbors' minds

The dialog goes on between the followers
of  Rousseau and those of  Hobbes
does being human mean having compassion
harmony with nature having the capacity
for civilization or does being human mean
wanting dominance of others war cruelty
wanting an empire rather than culture
are we mind that is capable of the ideals
of love beauty and vision or are we
 matter doomed to self destruction
doomed like an imploding star to oblivion