This Land is Our Land

“In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?”

"We are not a collection of Red States and Blue States
We are the United States
And together, ordinary people
Can do extraordinary things."

Try to remember as we head for November
When hope was new and oh so mellow.
We must remember on the path to November
So dreams reborn again will billow.
In what has been called the Promised Land,
Hallowed verities no longer stand.
The values of the days of yore
Raise curiosity and little more.
We find it oh so easy to lay blame,
And persist in playing this vicious game.
Each of us does our own part
To wound the nation’s pulsing heart
With anger, hate, fear or fatigue
We find ourselves in twisted league
Old friends have stumbled and gone astray
New foes arise to block our way.
The country reels; the children cry.
Will we not pause and wondered why?
Three years now have come and gone
And gathering storms eclipse the dawn.
In that seemingly mythic time
We knew the reason and felt the rhyme.
A young leader triumphant and attuned
Called on us to tend the nation’s wounds
In the days and nights that have since past,
He has faced a vile and withering blast.
Hopes are now in all out retreat
Preening adversaries swagger in stark conceit.
Can we hold firm; can we restart
The hard, grueling, unglamorous part
Build up again with worn out tools
What now lies scarred and smashed by fools.
Can we look once more within?
For the courage to rise and fight to win
Do we yet have the strength of heart?
To calm our minds and do our part
Amidst all the fury and despite the fuss,
Will we do what is required of us?
Though we feel so lost and so betrayed,
No daunting doubt must now dissuade
The spirit to which we should lay claim
Let us see the flicker and fan the flame.
This is our land far and wide
We must not simply stand aside.
Shake off the fear, regret and pain.
Let us be Americans again!
We must stand our country now.
We must find the courage someway, somehow.
Our birthright must not be bought and sold.
Not for dollars and not for gold.
Our votes must be most wisely cast.
We betray the future if we forget the past.