We At War Baby Lyrics

I’m a bon-afide certified
fit the profile fundamentalist
my name is on the no fly list
at all airports
but I still manage to fly high
above all hatred and bigotry
I am demonized
by the demon eyes
of wolfish men
one of them stopped me on the street
looked me straight in the eyes
and said to me:
“we at war baby – America is at war”
I said sign me up, I’ll be the first to enlist
but there is just one thing
white men can’t jump
they’ll step on the necks of others like rungs of a ladder to lift off
so if this goes well like you say
and all the terrorists are gone
who’s going to run the pentagon?
this is something greater than
AK’s A-bombs,
Saddams Osamas
Hillarys and Obamas
B2 bombers
there are some wars than can not be won by bombs nor firearms
and this is one of them
because America has been at war with itself since day one
living in a system of constant contradiction
needing constant distinction between the classes
but advertised otherwise
so I battle
I battle to reconcile flattering words of politicians
with images of police dogs dining on human flesh
in Birmingham, Alabama and Guantanamo Bay
I battle not to forget the forgotten for that is treason
I battle not to be consumed while in the belly of the beast
I must believe I will not become
just another piece of…trash
I will rise above that
Pluck wings from Icarus and flap my way across floating oceans
my brothers have lost hope
they say the statue of liberty is the epitome of hypocrisy
what do I tell them?
I say they have spoken the truth but they have lied
‘cause lady liberty is a bride
who’s been dressed up for her wedding but never been wed
‘cause all her potential grooms have been jailed, forgotten, or shot dead
those who tried to maker her symbol a reality in this nation
and not just a figment of our imagination
so I look at her with pity
Cause for too long she’s been prostituted by lustful pigs
Who instead of building a future want to build oil rigs
But perhaps it is for us to make her wedding day a reality
to get down on one knee and offer her this dowry
for liberty our blood and our sweat
and the years of tears we will never forget
so I battle
I battle to search for America’s soul because it is sold
I battle because I am told
that we at war baby
America is at war
and my battle scar is a scarlet letter A – for Arab
carved onto my chest for all to see
so that I may be
demonized
by demon eyes
lashed 1000 times
by serpentine tongues
so I battle
to find a way to love the arrogant and hate their arrogance
embrace the patient, kill the illness
or else guilty of malpractice
I battle to love
because love is an act of courage
and we live in a world of cowards
so I pray for courage
and that makes me
a bon-afide certified
fit the profile fundamentalist
my name is on the no fly list
at all airports
but I still manage to take flight
first class on the paper airplane of this folded poem non-stop to home
and hatred and bigotry
all look like little ants from up here