In Difference We Trust

 

i pledge defiance from the flag 

of the united states of America. 

and to the republic, 

which somehow stands, 

we are one nation 

under many gods, 

multifaceted and indivisible, 

yet being umbrella’d biblical 

by a history 

without any liberty

or justice

at all.

 

America, 

stop congratulating yourself

on problems that were never resolved

only swept under

the rug 

woven

by the broken

 

stop building fences

to keep out

the only ones

working hard

to keep this country going.

building, filing, mowing, tiling

 

America, 

stop the racial profiling.

 

Stop saying

America

needs to be

“kept American”

because

American

is not one color

under one God

 

out of many

we are one

out of many

we have only

begun

to address

what

shouldn’t

be a

problem.

 

i know this only

touches upon

issues much

larger than me

but our country

is on crutches

 

we are not

innocent until

proven guilty

but

ignorant until 

we prove

that we can see

 

America, 

PROVE THAT

YOU CAN SEE /
PAST THE COLOR

OF YOUR SKIN

 

America,

open your eyes

wide

to the mistreated

migrant

workers

harvesting

prayer

carrying

an entire

movement

on their backs.

 

Now close your eyes,

and imagine

what’s it like

to see skin

without

connotation,

to watch

one

worship

without

warfare.

 

we hold these

truths to be

self-evident

but until

we evolve our labor 

into liberation

until we stop 

associating

those who

sin differently

than us

with condemnation

America,

our eyes

shall remain

shut.