Saturday, July 04, 2020

Happy America Day

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: FOURTH OF JULY



Happy America Day

Today we celebrate the founding
Of a European nation on a faraway land
A land the inhabitants call
Turtle Island

The natives embraced the name Indian
Because it means People of God
People of the Great Spirit
In Dios we trust

The people of the Great Spirit
Did not know what to make of America
The Italian name after the explorer
Amerigo Vespucci
(they hardly knew him)

We might have been called Columbia
For the Indian killer and slave master

We might have been Liefland
After the Viking explorer Erikson
But the Vikings did not colonize
Did not write the history books

We might have been named after
The first slave traders
Or the early Spanish explorers
In search of golden treasure
And fountains of youth
But they did not find what
They were looking for

We are Americans in America
Though Peruvians and Canadians
Are Americans too

We are all Americans
Even those who were here long before
The European invasion
The conquest and genocide

We are all Americans
Even those who came without consent
From lands across the sea

We are all Americans
Even those who have toiled in the fields
And in the homes of affluence
Raising children of the chosen
Without acknowledgement

We are all Americans
Even those who were denied citizenship
And the right to vote
At the birth of the nation

We are all Americans
And we have a right to celebrate
How far we have come
And how far we have yet to go

1 comment:

  1. What is with all the Romanians following this blog? Any comments?

    ReplyDelete