America was Never America to Me
Summary
In America, there are many usuals and many givens. If you don't do this, you're not American. If you don't say this, you're not American. Within this poem I talk about the changes and sub standards of America, and why it's never been America to me.
Number one
We’ve never been just a country
A surviving thing with no survival needed
And if we are destroyed
It is because we’ve destroyed ourselves
Throughout centuries there have been men stepping foot on empty roads here
Armed with nothing but a vision
Something we do not need here, we want here
Something we need here is not wanted
And that in its essence is America
But it has never been America to me
Number two
The eagle that carries us is getting old
His weary wings wearing out, the air carrying him slow and burdened
What has once pushed him is now the reason why he wants to stop flying
The things made by men suddenly cannot be reversed
The eagle has nowhere to rest
Is it time to replace the eagle?
Is it time to replace ourselves?
And this in its essence is America
But it has never been America to me
Number three
What befalls the earth, befalls all the daughters and sons of the Earth
What happens here, happens to everyone
We fight in arms
Fighting with arms
Fighting together
Fighting against
And to them we have a solid obligation
As solid as the ground where these bodies now lay
And that in its essence is America
But it has never been America to me
Number four
Truth is powerful and it prevails
Democracy is something worth dying for
Democracy is a lying contest
The simplest way to measure who is truly American is to look at how many want in
And how many want out
Because being American is being a working soul
And if you don’t want to work, you don’t belong
And this in its essence is America
But it has never been America to me
If you want to serve yourself right here, you need to want to be here
This place is full of hope and anger, moving and falling pieces
The movement for a free place
The falling of those who want the freedom for themselves
The problem with America is that it is too large of a place
Too large of dreams
Too large of hopes
Too large of an entity for all of these small minded people
But it is the place of love
It is the place of truth and prosperity
It truly is the land of the free
And that in its essence is America
And it will always be America to me
Niagara High School Mr. Laarman's U.S. History Class
11th graders from Niagara, WI