3
Share on bsky
>> If so inspired: If you want to feel love & appreciation for what we’re losing, watch this.
*Editor’s Note: Elephant Journal articles represent the personal views of the authors, and can not possibly reflect Elephant Journal as a whole. Disagree with an Op-Ed or opinion? We’re happy to share your experience here.
I wrote “I Weep for America” as my heart and spirit felt overwhelmed by the sheer weight of what I’m witnessing in our country.
My cortisol has been in high-trigger mode, as the actions of the newly inaugurated president and his team—along with the oligarchic display of power, greed, and manipulation—have profoundly unsettled me.
Seeing Elon Musk’s chilling Nazi salute and the presence of billionaire elites at the inauguration dais felt like a gut-wrenching betrayal of the ideals America is supposed to stand for. The constant gaslighting and dismantling of civil rights has left me feeling like the republic I believed in is slipping away.
I have always been an idealist. I believed in the goodness of people and the power of our shared humanity to rise above division. But this belief has been profoundly shattered throughout the MAGA era.
The cruelty, the manipulation, and the blatant disregard for truth have left scars that I’m still reckoning with.
Writing this poem was my way of processing the grief and confusion. It’s a form of catharsis, a way to honor the sorrow while clinging to the embers of hope.
In this piece, I wanted to express the tension between light and shadow and the Jungian struggle within ourselves and our society. I hope the poem resonates with readers who feel this same pain and uncertainty, reminding them that the light can still be reclaimed even in the darkest moments. The fight for justice, empathy, and equity is ongoing, and we must confront the shadows within us and around us to heal and rebuild.
I Weep For America
I weep for our republic, a promise now frayed,
Where rights hard-won are callously betrayed.
The arc that bent toward justice, now forced to recoil,
Dreams of equality tarnished, left to spoil.
Echoes of progress fade in courtroom gloom,
While fragile gains lie silent in their tomb.
The shadow rises, cast long by the light,
Revealing truths once hidden from sight.
“Bye, Miss American Pie,” the melody wanes,
As the anthem’s refrain is lost in chains.
The flicker of freedom dims in despair,
As tyranny grows in the cold, hollow air.
The psyche of a nation now torn and bare,
The light and shadow wrestle—an eternal pair.
What is disowned now darkens the whole,
Unseen fears consume the collective soul.
Freedom falters as the ink fades dry,
On orders that uplifted, now waved goodbye.
Decades dismantled in a single decree,
A retreat from the vision of what we could be.
Can we face the shadow and its bitter truths?
Accept what’s hidden and reclaim our roots.
For within the depths of the darkest night,
The seeds of renewal yearn for the light.
O America, dreamer, who lost her way,
May your conscience awaken, come what may.
For though the present dims and hearts may break,
The souls of the people still stir and awaken.
Rise, resist, remember—let the truth ignite,
A lament turns to action in democracy’s fight.
author: Grayce McCormick
Image: Author's Own
Editor: Molly Murphy
This account does not have permission to comment on Elephant Journal.
Contact support with questions.