I am a murderer

I am a murderer
For the dream of America
In the name of Democracy
For unfettered capitalism
For us against them
I am a murderer

I am a murderer

My victims lie beneath the ground in lands my feet have never tread
Their hapless faces, I have never gazed upon
I have no knowledge of their actions
And can make no judgment of their deeds
They are countless and their names are not written down in any ledger

I am a murderer

My victims fell in El Salvador, Grenada, Nicaragua, Panama, Afghanistan,
Kuwait, Iraq, and places of which I do not even know

Because I pay taxes
I am a murderer
Because I do not run into the streets and shout
I am a murderer
Because I do not storm the halls of power
I am a murderer
Because I must confess, I do not even writer a letter in protest
I am a murderer

Perhaps if I lived under a cruel dictator
I could claim there is no blood on my hands
But alas, the facts of democracy allow no innocence
Except to serve the cause of self-deception

I am a murderer
A serial killer
Perhaps something even worse

Yet I rest in untroubled sleep
Where is my conscience?
Where is my morality?
Do I even lack humanity?

But my attention is lulled away by celebrity gossip controversies, game shows, and reality TV
My eyes are ever focused on expensive cars, new cloths, electronic gadgets, and good times
A carrot on a stick for a dimwitted mule

I may look back at the Jewish holocaust and say “never again”
Yet hypocrite that I am
I turn away as genocide in far away lands occur again without end

For a lifestyle of abundance beyond all human needs
Species are wiped out of existence on a daily basis

Right now I confess
To nature and man
To the myths of divinity
To the whispers of the ether
That this death is my legacy
This murder my page in history
This genocide my gift to future generations

I think of myself as a good person
I try not to cheat, lie, or steal
I am kind and respectful of others

Yet the undeniable truth is
I am a murderer