American Heartache

Wrapped snugly in my patriotism

I strongly believed in our flag and freedom.

I grew up unaware of the growing schism

Between idealism and isolationist fandom.

“These colors don’t run.”

Was the idiom I embodied

In the Army, but now that is over and done.

Our resoluteness and values are buried.

But these colors don’t run.

I grew up believing in American power and might

But this isn’t the 1990s anymore.

Americans don’t want to fight.

And our military strength is dilapidated and decaying to the core.

But these colors don’t run.

It is the end of an era and of an age.

The end of American leadership

And her place on the world stage.

Is it too late to right the ship?

-The Poet of Windy Blue

In light of all that is happening in American politics and foreign affairs, I thought I would try to capture the pain and mourning that so many of us seem to feel about our current actions and our quickly diminishing role in the world. Due to a multitude of factors the US is not as strong as it once was in terms of hard power and military might. Even compared to when I was born in the 1990s. Some scholars and military analysts even posit that we could not pull of a successful intervention like Desert Storm at this moment, even if we wanted to. That hurts. The winds of fortune are blowing to a different portion of the globe. 

Not only are our capabilities diminished, but it seems that our leadership, principles, and values are also diminished. The thought that our senior leaders and many Americans believe and parrot Russian propaganda by stating that “Ukraine started the war,” or that “Ukrainians are not deserving of our aid,” or that “they need to be more grateful,” is distasteful and sad. So too are the calls for the US to leave NATO and to abandon Europe to defend itself.

What kind of friend abandons another in a time of need? What kind of ally does the same? What kind of person accuses a sovereign nation for defending itself against a foreign aggressor? When did Americans stop believing in freedom?

In this poem I included the idiom “these colors don’t run.” It is a reference to the proud and patriotic zeal, steadfastness and commitment of my brothers and sisters in arms, but it is also a nod to its deeper meaning. Namely, it refers to the endurance and unwavering nature of a nation’s values and principles, as symbolized by the colors of its flag. I hope that these colors won’t run.