Written by Marie Cecilia
To the America I dream of where liberty isn’t just a bell or a WNBA team in New York,
where justice is practiced with equity and understanding is poured into undoing hundreds of years of unjust treatment of so many
An ode to, “We the People” where the people matter more than the money, more than party lines
A dream of, “We” representing all of US!
A dream of sharing and learning with and from Indigenous people and Black people, and all of the beautiful cultures, traditions, and people that have built this tapestry I am blessed enough to call home.
An ode to the American Dream being within the grasp of every. single. person. in this wide, wild, vibrant land of ours.
A dream of the hum of community, the song of cicadas, and the vibration of joyous dancing or a buffalo herd running across an open plain…
Not the hum of a data center or fracking equipment
An ode to front yard sprinklers being jumped through, and backyard barbeques with friends and family.
A dream of building the reality of what America hopes herself to be- rest for the tired, the hungry, the poor
Hope for freedom to freely speak your mind without attack or retribution
A nation that honors the worst parts of itself so that we may never repeat those mistakes again
A dream of life, liberty, and justice for all becoming reality and not just words on an oft quoted piece of paper
America-
you are beautiful in your wild, untamed nature with painted canyons and roaring waterfalls…
I hope we learn to honor and serve that beauty
I hope we find the needle of conversation and the thread of healing so that we can work to sew our torn pieces back together
I hope that massive tapestry is sewn together with new pieces of honesty about what has been done to persons white men in power consider(ed) to be lesser
I hope the tapestry is sewn together with curiosity rather than hate, and that persons with hatred so deeply rooted in their being are institutionalized rather than persons who are differently abled
I hope as we try to sew this tapestry back together we recognize the beauty and wonder in its varied hues
I hope, my beautiful country, that we learn to love people more than money
and that if that hope comes to fruition that the privileged few build a longer table, rather than a higher wall
I believe in you, America.
I believe in your virtues and the ideals that my Grandfather, Great Uncles, and Father- along with countless others risked their lives to protect.
I believe that this country by the people and of the people can become worthy of the countless souls who lost their lives fighting to protect those words
America I love this fractured, broken mess you are because I believe within the rubble we will find hope
…and isn’t that what our country was founded on?