Promised Land

A poem about injustice

The unalienable Rights:
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness
A promise that rings
From the Liberty Bell
It sings in ears across the world
In a universal language
Freedom, libertad, собода, स्वतंत्रता
But the paper on which it was written
Alienates these Rights
It's a promise that only rings true
For those who stack paper
That bears the image of a man
Who paid to own another man
Stolen Rights
Just like the land
Whose soil holds the truth
Of a broken promise
In ancestor's broken bones

Author's Note

What promise was broken for you?

Reviews

[Dheeraj]

Is there a single country on earth that has enshrined in its constitution the right to the pursuit of happiness? I've heard some bizarre phrases like equality, fraternity, fairness, and whatnot. But the right to pursue happiness seems as unusual as a conspiracy theory. Maybe it's just one of those conspiracy theories that became true.
I'm really eager to know if there's a country that offers the pursuit of happiness as a constitutional right.

[Alien]

This poem is very powerful. It condenses so much with so few words - the sign of good poetry. I loved it.

[Costa Siwale]

Even though I do not live in the US of A, I can imagine the uncertainty that y'all are confronted with. I hope the promises instilled in the land of opportunity can one day be restored!

[emmajoygreen]

Many promises broken throughout history. Dirty money and dirty distortion haunts the world. The two halves to our small country has always deprived the majority: in Victorian times: boy chimney sweeps, girls cleaning hearths.. even now, some have to beg food in designated shops; in other areas go to school without breakefast -worse still in other countries. What does breakfast mean! Poverty is even worse in many lands.. it is a weapon, because it keeps down the masses.. thus those faces on flimsy paper rules via power, dictatorship and human degregation. Enough?