Not My Fault

Not my fault,

They say

Not my fault that you could not make something of yourself, in a land that gives

Everything...

Not my fault...not my problem...

Not my fault, 

They say

When our veterans come home, and are cast out on the streets, with bleeding hearts

Purple gushing from their chest

Broken, hungry, dying...in the home that is for the brave

Not my fault...not my problem

Not my fault, 

They say

When, because your family is poor, you cannot move up and out

Stuck in a dead end wasteland, while they sneer and judge you

You did not try, you did not learn, you will not succeed

"But I did!", you cry, "Please, help me..."

But they turn their backs, and walk up those bold red stripes to the stars

Broken...you fall, while they rise....

Not my fault...not my problem

Not my fault, 

...I say...

When I turn my head to shield myself from reality

From the begger who just needs something to eat

To the veteran with no home...no family...a heart bleeding purple on the pavement

Not my problem...I whisper

As I run, back to my safety net...my education...my good fortune in life

In this land of the free...for some

Home of the once brave

And I sing myself to sleep on false pretenses, drifting off into an untroubled slumber

"...O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, 

O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?"