The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

This one can be found in my book, "Seasons Come, People Grow: A Poetic Journey," on pages 42-44. Together and happy, Waiting and watching, Head sinks down, Longing and wanting, When I walk through, The lights won't turn on, I've got nothing left inside, Nothing left to go on, Search me and frisk me, Indifference rules in my world, I see everyone else holding hands, happy, Here I am, with no one, all alone, Put your arms around me, Hold me and squeeze me tight, I don't care who you are, Let's get and make things right, I walk the streets at night, Sad and lonely am I, Wanting to give up, As I hold my arms up to the sky, Co-dependent to the bone, Insecure to the core, Please come and whisk me away, Save me from myself.

I read not too terribly long ago that the government is FINALLY going to do away with the color-coded system for terror alerts, which was initiated under then President George W. Bush following the 9/11 attacks. Ever since its inception, I saw the color-coded terror alerts as scare tactics and a clever way to bait and manipulate the public for a boost in approval ratings. The polls even showed this. Within a few days of the terror alerts being raised a level, Bush's rating would increase a significant margin. As time progressed, its efficiency waned. There was talk from President Obama that something would be done about the color-coded system, but I hadn't heard much discussion about it in his first two years in office. I'm thankful that by April, we will no longer have to hear the following at the airport, "Homeland Security is reporting that the terror-alert level is Periwinkle, with Cerulean zig zags, Magenta horizontal lines, Fuchsia vertical lines and Violet p...