I hereby declare

to live and die for the promise of a nation unattained, a freedom-song

written in lyrical falsehoods; to seek purpose in an aimless 

pursuit, never once questioning whether the destination truly 

justifies the journey; I pledge allegiance to the Flag; red as the 

blood-soaked soil of this stolen land, white as the bones buried six feet 

under hills of forgotten history, blue as an ocean salty from 

ever-flowing tears; star-spangled dreams eclipsed by stark 

reality, illusory as a mirage in the desert; the way one can bear 

true faith and allegiance to a state where truths are 

self-evident only for some; to kill for peace and divide for 

unity; to support autocracy in the name of democracy; working

harder for less, aching limbs and heavy heart and is this justice?

mind struggling to align with the tongue in its foreign 

abode, twisting and contorting into each painstaking 

syllable; the way one can say “neighbor” and really mean 

“enemy”; when borders are not nature-born but

man-made; when “equality” is both the sentence and the 

reprieve; so tell me once more what it means

to be a citizen