"paternalism" poems
America is an idea
that "all men are created equal,"
with working definitions of "human", "created", or "equal."
America is freedom for our grandchildren
in a manner we will never understand.
It is the founding fathers who died for liberty.
It is the darker brothers who fought for justice from kitchens and pulpits.
It is the poor, the huddled masses,
And their children who have forgotten this.
It is green cards that become blue passports.
It is unlearning the language of our grandparents.
It is knowing how to pronounce Arkansas and Illinois
It is enjoying barbecues on somber national holidays.
It is unbridled enthusiasm.
It is unbridled arrogance.
It is rugged individualism;
It is passionate paternalism.
It is hellfire that scorches deserts.
It is a gust that has fanned flames.
It is a cool rain that puts out fires.
From sea to shining sea--
It is Manifest Destiny
from Louis and Clark to Wounded Knee.
It is Topaz, and McCarthy,
and hundreds of things we would rather forget.
It is D-day, and Neil Armstrong,
and thousands of things we forget to celebrate.
America is a dream that rings from the red hills of Georgia
to the curvaceous slopes of California
to New York Island.
It is patriotism;
it is progress.
It is the blind worship of our past.
It is red. It is blue.
It is red, white, and blue.
It is what half of us say it isn't.
I say it evolves constantly;
others say it was created in His image.
It is everything I hold dear;
it is everything that infuriates me.
It is the warmth that makes my eyes tear
when I hear the Star Spangled Banner
at football games,
on July 4th,
or on September 11th.
It is hope.
It is the promise of a better tomorrow.
It is what ever I am.
I, too, am America.
*I have posted this to another website under the pen name Anamika Nair. I wasn't sure if this was okay. If it isn't, I can submit something else.
Sep 30, 2016
Sep 30, 2016 at 3:26 PM UTC
Counting cars on the front stoop in summer
One, two, three punch buggy no punch back
Lemonade for me and sweet tea for you
This is The South, after all
Only it’s hockey instead of football that’s on the television in my house but
We don’t talk about that since
I say you guys instead of y’all but
We don’t talk about that since
Your daddy has a confederate flag on his porch but
We don’t talk about that since
I grow up and you grow up and we don’t agree on the racial nor gender politics of time but
We don’t talk about that since
I don’t use the term culture of amnesia or white paternalism around you since
We count cars on the front stoop in summer
One, two, three punch puggy no punch back
A tall glass of political awareness for me and a shot of traditionalism for you
and silence between us but
We don’t talk about that since
This is The South, after all
May 29, 2018
May 29, 2018 at 8:58 PM UTC