After World War I ended

Hitler took the stage

He took the crowd, suspended

Projected on them his rage

“The Jewish are to blame,”

He shouted with a sneer

“They took away our respect and fame

They are the ones to fear”

Most citizens believed the one

And started to despise

The ones chosen to hate upon

Fed with fear and lies

America was drawn to fight

By alliances and an attack

Finally, it was too clear war was in sight

Too late to turn back

“The Germans and Japanese are here”

Sounded whimpers and cries

“They come as spies,” they announced in fear

And were fed with their own lies

The war ended soon enough

Wrapped up with nuclear ties

Russia was hardened now and tough

Matched us, weapon-wise

“The Russians are our enemies!”

The public now exclaimed

“They will start more tragedy!

They will be to blame!”

The Cold War came to nothing

And besides lots of normal rage,

Everything seemed to be settling

Until that fateful day

Two planes hit the twins

The country was horrorstruck

As the buildings caved in

And fell to the ground in dust

George W. Bush invaded Iraq

In fear and rage and spite

A power vacuum sprung with a crack

And ISIS took the light

“Non-believers are to blame!”

The group called out in haste

“They attacked us out of spite and hate

They’ll grind us to paste!”

Now, all Muslims are blamed for them

While ISIS blames us all

Feeding the lies the others said

While supporting their own call

I grew up in this crazy world

Just one child amongst the rest

And you say how good it was before

We were all put to this test

Now, we are always being monitored

Everything is recorded, photographed

We are imprisoned by terror

As everyone submits to such futile tasks

Watch what you say in public

One wrong word could kill

A slip of the tongue could cause panic

Edit your words, if you will

My friends are ostracized

For the hijabs on their heads

My fellow siblings, children of God

By some are wanted dead

And adults are always warning me

“Don’t do this, or that.”

Beyond a point, I’m not free

Because safety is where it’s at

“You can’t talk to certain kids,”

“You can’t go to certain places,”

“If you do, you will be killed.”

That is thrown into our faces

Cameras watching everything

Threatening wherever I go

“You will be killed,” adults are always saying

This is what I’ve always known

Criminals, terrorists, different ones

These words I must fear and know

Everyone is scared of… everyone

They just fear the unknown

In a Generation of Fear, I’m cast

This is what I see

Not the first and not the last

But a worse one, seems to be

Call me naive, call me wrong

But I wonder why you’re all so scared

For I knew, all along

That danger is always there