macerate

fear and frenzy
threaten to pull apart
both liberty and safety
up to us to rise above
resist resist resist
against the clenched fist
before the slipping away of
the "we" we thought we were
macerated by the slow boil of rage
blasted by wave after wave of hot air
the erosion of identity
destroying our shared humanity
with edicts capricious or vicious
by the indefensibly suspicious