“There is so much wasted space in America. In China everything is cultivated!”
Oh, America, what have you done to me?
Whose idea was it to…
So many ideas still slowly evolving from the goo of 1776…
The last time I had an urge to wave the flag was when I owed back-taxes…
So much wasted space because…
Everything is so new… uncultivated…
So much to build.
Give me your tired, you poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free,
I swim in a sea of freedom, half-drowned…
There is a place for me here somewhere, I just know it…
I just love looking at atlases and road maps, because I can go anywhere…
to build dreams…
So competitive out there…
“The 50’s was the best decade.”
“Just when I think that this generation is blessed with no war, boom! 9/11 happens.”
My father was in the Pacific theater… battlefield commissioned…
What? Why join the military? We have a family military tradition to uphold, that’s why…
I just needed a job skill.
Give me the wretched refuse of you teeming shore,
I just needed a hill to stand on to see past my hometown.
My brother-in-laws all got themselves on disability…
Ponytails and drag racing, now those were the days…
“In China we have smart lights…”
“Grade school in Korea was like a military camp, but I came here ahead in math…”
"There was another murder at the Murder Mart…"
“When we visit Europe, we usually visit Ireland…”
“You da man!”
Let’s talk politics…
I remember him as a playground bully…
“I’m thinking about joining the Peace Corps…”
“Happy Father’s Day.”
“You should join Facebook, it would be a blast.”
"College tuition is due August 1st."
She wants a traditional church wedding.
He says he’s going to be an astronaut.
“I want to get into biomechanics…”
“I just switched majors from physics to computer science.”
“Want to go to the midnight premier of ‘The Dark Knight’?”
Sure.
I just mowed the lawn in this 100 degree heat, just to sweat!
"She likes you…"
“If he tries to kiss me, I’m going to kick him in the balls!”
“Dad, what ‘class’ are we?” Hmmm… lower middle. I took a step down in life…
“It sure would be nice to have a car, Dad.”
“Do you want pizza or Chinese?”
“The bathtub’s leaking.”
“We’re going to visit grandmother next weekend…”
“I just went shopping. Look what I got…”
“There are kittens under our porch! Can we keep them? Pleeease?”
How do you pronounce ‘Yin-Yang’? Oh. OK, I’m going to teach you a word:
Rigamarole.
“What? What’s this rigamarole? It’s not in dictionary.”
“You, champion!”
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Author notes
Lines included from “The New Colossus” the sonnet by Emma Lazarus, 1883
which appear at the base of the Statue of Liberty:
"Give me your tired, you poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breath free,
give me the wretched refuse of you teeming shore,
send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
Lines within quotes were actually said to me.
I said yes to the kittens.
A contest entry
- U.S. Patriotism by CelticQueen.
1500 points, ended July 23, 12 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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Talk about a slice of Americana. You've given us a whole pieful! Nicely done, wbiro.
peace
doug
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What a fantastic take on the topic! Totally unique, showing every side of American life.
So many ideas still slowly evolving from the goo of 1776…
We know freedom in this country like nowhere else on earth and we take it from one extreme to the other. Sometimes we are grateful for it and sometimes we take it for granted.
So many ideas...
Thanks for this wonderful entry.
celtic queen
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