The Write Way to Die

Who more American than me?
Whose father was sold
Whose mother was raped
Whose tongue was
Wiped
Ripped
Whipped out of their mouths
Until all they knew
Was the language of liberty

Who more American than me?
Who was born of this land and no other
Who has no links to an old country or the motherland
Or generations of immigration to discuss
Whose family tree began when Plymouth rock landed on us

Who more American than me?
Who’s doctor, who’s King
Was denied the right to dream
Whose blood was spilled
For America
By America
In America

Who more American than me?
Whose art was artificially inseminated into the American zeitgeist
Whose civil right fight night put triple ks in the dirt like Satchel Paige in the limelight
Jackie Robinson hittin’ home runs but I ain’t talking bout white flight

Whose dialect
Whose music
Whose culture

Is it a bald eagle
Or a vulture

Whose back built this country
Whose back bears the scars of greatness
Whose back bears the weight of progress

From the back of the bus to the white house
From the church steps to the steeple

Who more American than me?
Who more American than The People?