Transitions
Since the year Seventeen eighty-nine
When George Washington was sworn in
There was the promise of America
That was finally, about to begin.
Wise men wrote our Constitution
And declared, our Independence
They said, all people were equal
With those words, not given license.
We were a young, fledgling Nation
Trying to figure the right way
To control our new Democracy
Which, we still struggle with, today.
We opened wide, freedom’s door
And asked all oppressed to come
But still, we had so many things
Which were unfinished, left undone.
The Women, who were our backbone
Were not allowed a say, to vote
Relegated to the home and kids
With no rights, a sad, historic note.
Not until, Nineteen and twenty
Did they finally win the fight
To that promise from America
Where we claimed, all, had that right.
We allowed people to own people
And turned a blind eye, to that blight
And it took our terrible, Civil War
To make us, finally, see the light.
Those freed by Lincoln’s Proclamations
In Eighteen sixty-two and sixty-three
Soon learned, freedom was a state of mind
And found, they still weren’t, truly, free.
The States still had their own laws
And many said, there was no way
To allow Blacks in the voting booth
To register, or to have their say.
Forty-five years after the Women
There was finally Federal legislation
That guaranteed all would have a voice
As to who, and how we ran our Nation.
Equal Rights for all Americans
Is still an imperfect, process
Sometimes, it seems we backtrack
As the rich get more, the poor get less.
We now have a Black Man running
And a Woman, for number two
Some said, it would never happen
But, change, is what Americans do.
This Great Experiment of Democracy
Has surely come, a long, long, way
But, if we don’t protect those Freedoms
We can’t afford the price, we’ll pay.
Our Country is at a crossroads
And only History books, will tell
If we had the will, up to the task
And, if we really, did it, well!
It’s an honor and our solemn duty
To cast our vote for our belief
And party lines aren’t always true
And may cause us pain and grief.
Our two party system worked awhile
But, has caused so much division
Not always, the best for the People
And, it’s time for some, revision.
Vote, for what, you know is right
Even, if some say you’re wrong
Like it was, in our beginning
When we were young, proud, and strong.
Either way, we will make, history
With the election, in November
Let’s hope we make the right choice
On a day, we will, want, to remember.
Del "Abe" Jones
08.31.2008
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Be always safe,
Karen