Anil Deo | + Follow Poet |
Verse | + Fav Poem | Comment | Email | Print |

I Love America, Differently, In Fuller History

I
The Servants of Free Men on the Mayflower
Knew "abundant life" in Jesus, Great Savior
Two servants, too, rose up to sign The US Constitution
Lover of His Morals, Binder of America's First Bible, Jefferson
Perhaps, long before, some foundations cast by Tom Paine & William Penn


II
Then there is Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island
Who paid Native Americans for Providence, new way to get land?
More fortunate than Minister Anne Hutchinson, foe of New England
Because she read the Bible, taught it, and well ... thus expelled
Yet more fortunate than Mary Dyer, Quaker, now Watch at Boston Common

III
Smaller folk prayed for A Great Awakening. It came. Publicist: Ben Franklin
Preachers in the trenches, before two Billys: Charles Finney & Our Theologian
None other than Jonathan Edwards; when he died, on that occasion
His wife wrote her daughter: we weep but thank LORD he was our relation!

IV
The idea of America ... inimitable; Einstein came as Refugee of Distinction
And veterans I'm blessed to know, ennobled by trials and tribulation
We lost Lewis Reynolds this year; a Marine and Man of many an Invention
Your simple research will reveal we owe much to such Fighters For Freedom
And in my church: Walter Ogden, Dick (Tex) Pentecost, Russell Coleman

V
Yes, we may criticize its imperfection ... often without paying a price
There was the bad history with Indians - broken treaties and cowardice -
Yet John Rolfe did marry Pocohontas, many now claim them Ancestors
And slavery of Africans was brutish, but Lincoln busted free of old fears
As did Noble Roosevelt, Carter, & Obama ... celebrate USA in Living Colors

(c) Deo. Happy Birthday America; God empower the peoples and every level of Leadership to fulfill the Great Destiny of America. After all, Gandhi's great granddaughter, Uma, says: "Try to share; you'll have to one way or another."

Copyright © Anil Deo | Year Posted 2018

Please Login to post a comment

Thomas Wells Date: 5/5/2020 10:29:00 PM Your poem reminds us that America from it earliest conceptions, was always a nation of immigrants. Save for the Native Americans, we all have roots somewhere else. I am descended from Quakers who were some of the earliest settlers in N.C. and Pa. Hence, like so many, my ancestors sought freedom from religious persecution. You know this country, friend. Nice job! Login to Reply Anil Deo Date: 5/6/2020 4:51:00 AM Dr. Wells, I almost became a Quaker myself ... Mary Dyer on Boston Common & all. Let you generous visit & comment stand alone to celebrate HOW I LOVE AMERICA< not to brown-nose politicans to get jobs & green cards. I want to be her true friend, to allow her to shine for God. shalom, shalom (& a deep bow in humility to your ancestors). anil deo