Contamination of Life and Thought
by Michael Doyle

As a small child, often alone, I usually read
The kinds of books that put thoughts in my head.
About lives well lived in their grand nobility,
These were filled with love and remarkable purity.

To be fair, my beliefs developed from this reference.
I had no way of genuinely knowing by any real inference 
That what I saw as truths were just ideals, often legendary.
Those oppressed by these truths held them incendiary.

Still, I believe in and love my golden country.
I find it beautiful and filled with true dignity.
I remember the kindnesses of so many along the way,
And I know this is as true today as it was yesterday.

Getting older, I wondered about my life's contamination.
Soiling the fabric of life lived symbolically in my nation.
I was told that my belief in patriotism crossed the line.
Despite my belief, nothing was sacred or any kind of divine.

I have become alienated by the growing sense of danger.
What was a world filled with friends has become one of strangers.
Each has been taught to seek after only their own good, 
It has filled my heart with sorrow as it's come to be understood.

Still, I believe in and love my golden country.
I find it beautiful and filled with true dignity.
I remember the kindnesses of so many along the way,
And I know this is as true today as it was yesterday.

I feel as jaded as the broken strings of old violins
Moving through life at the pace of slow violence.
My disbelief at how my country has changed is corrosive.
Strip-mined of substance until becoming explosive

My love has lost its way before a wash abrasive fear.
A fear of those once waited on as friends, it's now clear.
That so few are free from the chains of the sins within.
The beast has clawed its way up to bring us to the end. 

Still, I believe in and love my golden country.
I find it beautiful and filled with true dignity.
I remember the kindnesses of so many along the way,
And I know this is as true today as it was yesterday.

(c) May 6, 2025   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved