for those who have ears to hear & eyes to see,
Is one not American if, scientifically,
every cell of your body was formed here?
Is one not American, if one’s entire
system of reality,
entire system of identity belongs here?
Is one not American if, one has chosen,
repeatedly, liberty o’er death?
Is one not American if, one’s existence is
the filament maintaining the moral economy
afloat?
Is one not American, if one understands the
sorrow of jazz, the funk of blues, and the
soul-joy of spirituals?
Am i not America, if i have pledged allegiance
to a flag, twice-more, than she has pledged
allegiance to me?
Am i not America, if i know that that title is absurd,
meaning nothing, dancing existentially w/ naught?
Am i not America, if i suffer her pathologies, too?
Am i not America, if i am pitted as the source of
her suffering.
Am i not America, if i have the balm for her
soothing?
Am i not America, if i have been here before,
& will be here again, forevermore?
