I am an American

June 26, 2013... and again in 2015

What if I don’t like your looks,

demand you read my pre-approved books,

think that you must pray my way,

dictate all you do and say?

 

What if  I feel you’re living wrong,

that my way’s been right all along,

that who you marry is my affair,

my views the ones all lives declare?

 

Liberty’s struggle is still going strong,

from founding fathers to protest throng;

neighbors' ways may disagree,

and still, we strive for Unity... 

Author's Note

*The first rendition of this poem was written two years ago. Still, we strive...

Agree or disagree, our country is founded on freedom for ALL

Reviews

[Einstein Noodle]

and who can disagree? ;) appropriate for all time says i .. tho personally i do subscribe to a very real absolute truth ..it does not automatically include a judgement nor hate ...
E.

[Willard Wells]

Democracy is alive and well even if we do fight among ourselves. But cross the line and we stand as one. Nicely written and inspirational a bit too. Thanks,

[Rita L. Sev]

It certainly keeps us on our toes - how boring it would be if we all agreed! Thank you, Willard!

[Coyote Poetry]

I liked your thoughts and agree.
"Liberty’s struggle is still going strong,
from founding fathers to protest throng;
neighbors' ways may disagree,
and still, we strive for Unity... "
We ain't perfect. We do try to get along. Thank you Rita for sharing your outstanding poetry.
Coyote

[Rita L. Sev]

It's a daily challenge, and we must work for unity and maintaining freedom every day... Thank you, CP!

[Coyote Poetry]

I enjoyed and you are welcome.

[Trace]

I see our perceived freedoms slowly disappearing,
It wont be long before we are all a slave to the government,
(not counting wage garnishments we call taxes)

But to see our flag stomped into the ground by the very people that claim the freedom to do so,
then see the rainbow flag flown over the white house just makes me sick to my stomach.

Very thought provoking poem.
Trace

[Rita L. Sev]

Trace, I agree wholeheartedly about the flag - there should be only one emblem of our United States - and it, as well as what it stands for, must be respected. Thank you for your thoughtful review.

[Tate Morgan]

Excellent thoughts on the subject of the day and so well put . You know my thoughts on this subject and we arent far apart.

[Rita L. Sev]

Thanks, Tate!

[eatme]

You have the freedom to do as we tell you.
Deny all you please, just not the Holocaust or Global Warming. One dead Jew is no longer your God, his six million replacements are. You have to love every culture, unless it is white, KKK, Nazi, various kinds of Muslims, Palestinians, Hamas, Hezbollah, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Taliban, Tea Party, or owns a gun. Trayvon was hero no matter how many burglaries he committed or how little liver he had left from his drug addiction. The Poles didn't round up and massacre the ethnic Germans they absorbed after they stole huge chunks of Germany after WW1. The fire bombing of Dresden was a military necessity. The millions of German POWs starved to death in camps after WW2 never existed. America didn't bury POWs in sand during the Gulf War because no one bothers to ship a million extra gallons of drinking water to the middle of the desert to give them as they roasted under that legendary Death Valley sun. Israel is not White Power Apartheid where white Europeans Jim Crow brown skinned people. Vaccines can't cause autism. X-ray scanners can't cause cancer. Fukashima seafood is good for even if it glows in the dark from radiation. You will love gay marriage, or else!

Show me a person who 'loves freedom' and I will find a person who threatens to kill me for exercising it.

It reminds of this guy I met who worked for a political party website. At the time he said, "I am so sick of spending all day every day deleting comments from people screaming that 9-11 was an inside job. No one thinks that."

People can destroy thousands of victims and when asked, they never destroyed a single one, because no one ever existed that disagreed.

You have the freedom to imitate the life from TV.

One thing I know for sure, the more free a person tells you, the more you need to worry about the knife they have hidden behind their back.

[Rita L. Sev]

Certainly did not mean for my poem to anger you so. Just exercising a little free speech...

[eatme]

That's actually the point. Freedom is ONLY Freedom when you don't want it. Freedom of speech ONLY exists for people to say what you don't want to hear. Freedom of speech doesn’t protect speech you like; it protects speech you don’t like. My goal was to draw hostility on the off chance someone might awaken to how little they actually like freedom besides their own.

[Rita L. Sev]

I suppose that is true for some...

[redflutterby]

It is in fact what our country was built upon...freedom. I believe we all have the right to the pursuit of happiness but must realize that not everyone will approve of our choices. Of course one does not need the approval of others to live happily...but that's another matter really. Great poem Rita....you always express so well!!

[Rita L. Sev]

Thanks, Red - true that our choices will be approved (and I may not approve of others' choices...) But we pursue happiness nonetheless...

[CoffeeInfused]

Agreed, and hopefully it's something we'll all keep working toward :)

[Rita L. Sev]

Thanks. Yep - it takes constant work.

[Antoinette Tarsitano-Mo..]

I most certainly agree -- freedom is for ALL!!

[Rita L. Sev]

Amen, amen, amen! Thank you!

[Petra Vlah]

Celebrating freedom is great, but denying it to others is not what the founding fathers had in mind (although they were slave masters themselves). Being proud to be an American is wonderful as long as others are allowed to be what they are and are not forcefully subjected to the dubious moral standards of the "greatest nation in the world"

[Rita L. Sev]

Absolutely. The "freedom" claimed by our founders was woefully incomplete - slaves, women, basically anyone who did not own land was excluded. But they had the foresight to know that times would change, and that freedom would have to continue to grow. Today, when we say we believe in freedom for all, unfortunately many do not mean it. Thank you, Petra, for your insightful review.