INDEPENDENCE DAY
A day to celebrate
The Birth of a Nation.
Let us celebrate it with
Fireworks,
Grilled hot dogs,
And a day off work.
Aren't they the self-evident truths declared
In the Declaration of Independence?
Oh, it did say "All men are created equal."
But even the man who wrote that
Didn't believe that.
He was, after all, the owner of slaves.
They kept him in comfort
Down at Monticello.
One, at least, Sarah Hemmings,
Even gave him a few babies.
Not that he acknowledged those
Dark-skinned offspring.
So, certainly the Declaration didn't declare
That dark-skinned men were equal.
Nor, for that matter,
Red men,
Chinamen,
Any men at all except white men.
Who owned property,
Don't forget that.
And don't get me started about women.
None of them thought women were
Created equal to men.
They meant it when they said
"All men are created equal."
Nor, if they could have conceived of the idea,
Were trans men,
Or trans women,
Or women who liked women,
Or men who liked men
Created as their equals.
Come to think of it,
God created very few as their equals.
Not the Mexican coming over the border.
Not those dark-skinned ones
Out of the Caribbean.
Not those who didn't have the good sense
To be born to wealth.
That's not what that phrase meant.
That's not what those men meant.
And so, by God, under God, trusting in God,
We will make sure
The Birth of a Nation
We celebrate today
Remains a good ol' American holiday
For all honest-to-God real Americans
Of the right color,
The right sex,
And the right net worth.
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