America, never beautiful.

Not everyone is able to go against the flow, and refuse to deny the truth. I used to be blinded by the media, as well, Marryanne. I used to believe we are a country of justice and peace. Truth is all politicians are murderers. All of them fight in the name of pride and dignity, while they only seek more power, more money, more land.
It is true the American government is one of the many reasons people are being killed in many places. I can't count on both hands how many governments started war. And who gets the bullet? Governors? Senators? Mayors? No. The people, the masses.
So in response to your poem: Not only you must not feel ashamed, you also must feel pretty proud and smart that you didn't let lies about "nationalism" numb your sense of judgement. You're an incredibly intelligent and open-minded person, and I'm very proud you are my friend.

Judging comment:

A dagger in the eyeball. Good God, the poet left me in awe after the very first read. One but asks, “How does an American have the balls to point fingers at him/herself for the many faults of the U.S government?” The question itself converts you to another “What does patriotism mean?” To me, being a patriot is not about being blind to what governments are doing. It is not about love, for many a time love is blind. And blindness takes you down. See? It’s merely about balance. Everything is about balance. Critique is a human necessity for improvement, for not being blinded by whatsoever. Thomas Paine beautifully puts it, “The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” Indeed. Such poems force you to think and rethink. This is the beauty of poetry, raising questions, throwing spice in the eyes. Maryanne has written this gem with a strikingly smooth flow. “nationalism has bred us into killers, / America, the homeland of terrorism.” I, an outsider, wouldn’t dare to say it. What’s really smart too is that the analysis of the poet regarding the link between the Russians-killed Syrian children and the feeling of shame she has and which is stirred by the U.S government’s actions cannot be undermined by any argument. My suggestions: “brothers’ blood” instead of “brother’s blood” and converting the last question to a statement because it will bombard the point with extra power (example: America, I always thought you were beautiful / until you gave birth to violence). Beautiful does not suffice.

My dear Marryanne, first of all, stop blaming yourself for the decisions you didn't make. Don't say you are ashamed. I mean if my teacher does something wrong to my friend and I have no idea at the moment it is happening; later on I find out something bad has happened and my teacher did that. For sure, I will think that I should be there to stop it but I won't start blaming myself for that. Instead, I will raise my voice against the teacher by telling others about the wicked thing he did with my friend.

You tried to tell us about the decision made by the government but at the same time you made yourself a part of those decisions and started accusing yourself and you included the whole country, the beautiful country America, along with you.

For me, you are as innocent as the people who died in those air stikes. In every country only the highest person in the government has every authority to do such things or to take such heinous decisions. Dear, MA, are you that person? Are you the president?

I recently mentioned in Rania's poem even the soldiers were not responsible for such things. They are just following the orders. They are as helpless as you. Only a soldier can understand that.

Suppose, your president reads this poem and says officially that America won't become a part of this massacre anymore. How will you stop Russia or China or other countries which needs the oil of Syria and for that they don't give a thought about extracting it from the blood of our Syrian brothers and sisters.

I don't want to say about this anymore, I don't want to turn into a debate. But please stop accusing yourself. You are innocent. You can't change anything. If you could you would have already done that.

Now, let's talk about the poem. Even though you wrote it very simple it left a deep impact on the reader. The content of the poem is very strong. The language is powerful, except those parts where you are accusing yourself.

I mean you could have given it another angle too to this poem by mentioning that this is happening and as an American citizen we speak for equality so we should come forward to prevent it. Though the mind of our government is ill, but the soul of a normal American citizen is still pure. We still believe that we are the one, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day so let's start giving. We believe in giving hope, not despair. We believe in saving lives, and defeating death. You could have shown the bright side of a normal American citizen. And even if you are writing something in which you are accusing yourself(which is your personal thinking) , there is no need to say that every American citizen thinks the same way. There is no need to blame the whole nation for an act performed by a single person sitting on the highest level.

You know the moment good people like you come forward to speak against your government, your government start treating you as rebel. Same thing happened in Syria or most of the time it has been organized by the government of the other countries to capture the oil fields. Rebels were created to start a war. Same thing happened in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and now the beauty of Syria is covering in dust day by day.

My dear, I felt the emotions you poured for our Syrian brothers and sisters. I do want for all the governments to stop sending drones to Syria in the name of help. And even if government want to help, find a better way to help by lending a hand to life, not death.

MA, for the weekly contest

All the best!

This is..oh my goodness. This is one of the most powerful pieces I have ever read. This is so very heartbreaking. All those innocent lives lost in vain is just plain disgusting and terribly sad. Governments, not just America's, are responsible for this, and we are as well, sadly.
Your poem is very scary in this sense. I don't know how we can look ourselves in the mirror and still feel alright while these poor souls suffer this much.

Beautiful piece!

I disagree with your viewpoint.