As the plunder and profits of

   failed politics fades

another day into the anonymity

   of wealth, power, and privilege,

I see before me

   in the evening twilight

two people talking.

Edging closer,

I hear one

   confide to the other -

"Today I felt the frustration,

   uncertainty and despair

of this American Moment.

Today, I lived the hardship,

   misery and stress

of a proud industrious people

   living in 'quiet desperation'.

Today our ruin and deprivation

   bear witness to the duplicity,

iniquity and pretension

   of this American Moment.

Today I know this day

   is my everyday

for all my tomorrows.

Suddenly, I feel the

   promise of freedom

pull at every fiber

   of my being;

I feel the trepidation,

   panic and fear

of this American Moment.

I see the reality

   of a people suffering -

robbed of America's industrial prosperity,

   security and stability.

I see my country

   strugging to survive

in a wilderness of greed.

I see my homeland

   drowning in the debt

of a rich man's folly -

   financial growth gimmicks

      trillion dollar bank bailouts

         billion dollar tax cuts.

I see my countrymen

   weep for want

of productive full-time jobs

   and a liveable family wage.

I see the face of the hungry,

   the helpless, the hopeless;

I feel my neighbor's pain.

As I pause to face

   the blowing tempest

knock at freedom's door,

   I ask myself 'why'?

Why, you, our elected

   representatives,

why have you

   abandoned us?

Why you, in whom

   we have placed our trust,

why have you forsaken

   your people?

We, who labor to keep

   America strong,

feel deserted ... sacrified

   for the enrichment of a few.

We, who defend America

   in freedom's name,

feel defenseless and alone.

We, the people

   of this American Moment,

feel betrayed and forgotten.

We, the people of America,

   a people suffering

in every city,

   in every village,

      in every town,

cry out for 'one' among us

   with the courage, the vision,

the integrity to lead

   this Republic of Washington,

Jefferson and Lincoln

   to a new age of

Freedom, Equality, and Justice

   and to restore this great nation  

'of the people,

   by the people,

      for the people'

to the people

   of this Anerican Moment."

Sentiments penned by M. G. Montpelier

October 12, 2014

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