Stain

By Cliff Lake

 

Stain

 

What once was tarnished

Is now stained.

What pride is there

In petty aggression?

What has been verified

Beyond savage greed?

How do we hold freedom aloft

With our heel planted on the neck?

What oily advantage have we procured?

What ego has been stroked?

What wickedness steered from?

What wickedness performed?

A spotty reputation

Is now smeared with blood.

Have we gained security?

Or are we now more suspect?

“We…”

I do not recall sanctioning this aggression.

I do not remember an appeal to Congress.

“We.”

Are we to be punished,

Rebuked,

Scorned,

For the ambitions

And the fears,

Of one man,

Soiled in spirit,

Soiled in his very clothes.

What pride is there in that?

Will we accept his stain?

Who among us has earned that mark?

Who will willingly wear it?

Who among us

Has so little regard for themselves

That they will allow the crimes of one man

To brand us all?

Our nation was tarnished,

Yes,

Now it is stained.

I do not intend to wear another man’s filth.

This nation,

While we have erred in the past,

Need not travel this road so degraded,

So wanton.

“We.”

“We” did not invade –

Some criminals among us have done,

But they are not us.

We need to clean our house…

Or it will be stained beyond cleaning.

Stained by the smallest number among us,

Who wield power they have not earned.

We must remember our strength,

And use it justly.

What was once tarnished

Is now stained.

This we need not accept.

We know where the filth comes from,

Time to clean it up.

 

Cliff Lake 1/5/2026

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2026

Location: Washington, DC, USA

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