Thanks Giving 2002

In the hunger of a million tears

Dried by the dust of famine

Forlorn looks haunting

Our very subconscious

In frail bodies of bone

Lands torn away by decade of war

Hacking to death anyone

That dared to be different

Mutilations so inhuman

Butchered by indifference

In the gas chambers of history

The slaughters for ethnic purity

Still wails of ghosts imprison us

In cries of denials of any wrongdoing

As some leaders keep reenacting

Crimes against humanity

In the insane religions teachings

Preaching the killing of fellow men

In the name of their deity

Trying to impose religious laws

Killing half of the population

In the season of Thanksgiving

We take so much for granted

That the meal of thanks before us

Is eaten away without much thought

In a land so imperfect that we get along

So diverse that we can dare to be different

In a diversity that is protected in our faith

A constitution that allows freedom of choice

Communication unhindered by fear

In a land having so much wealth

To feed the poor at least on one day

Let us give thanks that we have our rights

To believe things here will be so different

Yet we know we breed our own demons

Greed incorporated in creative accounting

Wall Street taking away our retirements

Politicians seeing their election as instant wealth

Crimes of the poor being imprisoned

While those of the rich get a country club

Yet here we can

Complain and gripe

Condemn and fuss

In others words

Enjoy our meal

In relative peace

But say a prayer

To those people

With real needs

Thought: With so many things wrong with the United States, I can look at some other countries and realize how fortunate we are. In which we have a population of the world’s diversity that has to get along.       

D.Lester Young 11/19/2002  Tuscaloosa, AL  Copyright © D.Lester Young (White Eagle poetry)