A poem for the 4th of July

— from W.A. Schmidt —

Freedom Reconceived

By Wasakalobo

America’s experiment
Is hanging by a thread
Its state no cause for merriment
Is it alive or dead?
It started with poetic grace
Yet left out quite a lot
Claimed there was more than just one race
But just one human plot
Whose characters were of course white
All men and born to rule
Wide swaths of land with all their might
By conquests harsh and cruel
Indigenous was not a word
That seemed of any use
The conquerors’ conscience stayed unstirred
Despite utmost abuse
That was to come as time went by
When land was there to grab
Millions expelled and doomed to die
Survivors’ lives turned drab
The exploitation of the lands
Enriched a few who had
Access to millions of free hands
Through bondage ironclad
The Founding Fathers’ bravery
Put their own lives at stake
But by not tackling slavery
They made a big mistake
For it would haunt the nation hence
Lead to its biggest war
Make talk of rights seem a pretense
Become a painful sore
Combined with the slow genocide
Ranging from coast to coast
It would eventually collide
With what became the boast
To be the freest land on earth
Where justice reigns supreme
Where independent from one’s birth
The country’s noble dream
Would guarantee equality
Not just before the law
But throughout our polity
Inspiring widespread awe
That people felt across the world
While seeking to be free
Liberty’s banner thus unfurled
From sea to shining sea
Would fuel the hope that humankind
Might hold in check its flaws
Provide some sort of peace of mind
If people made the laws
This vision of democracy
Aimed at the commonweal
Would finish off autocracy,
Its rule by iron heel
By fits and starts it would evolve
Give dignity a chance
And inch us closer to dissolve,
-And justice hence advance-
The notion that there are no wrongs,
The nation had no sin
Accept that everyone belongs
No matter what their (s)kin
That it is time to reconcile
Reach out to those aggrieved
End our morals’ long exile
Freedom be re-conceived

© W.A. Schmidt 2020