Best All Men Are Created Equal Poems
I went to visit Farmer Fred
Found him out in his wood shed
He was splitting up some oak
As I approached, he paused and spoke
“When I was young, I served my country and was willing to give my life for what I believed this country stood for.”
“Today I’d give my life to protect my family from what this country has become.”
I looked at Fred a bit askance
And he could see at a glance
That he should explain his new stance
‘We will bury you’ is coming to fruition.”
“Our country is becoming the very thing I fought against.”
“Pravda had nothing on the propagandist news in our nation.”
“Give it any name or label you will, government control over people has failed “the people” throughout human history.”
“I do not hold that government is evil, rather power which is corrupting and evil.”
“It has always been about power over others.”
“Kings, Emperors, Chancellors, Prime Ministers, and Presidents all abuse it.”
“Using government power to control others by controlling their means of earning and amassing wealth.”
“Feudalism, Socialism, Communism, Fascism, all place government at the top and make all people beholden to government.”
“Free market capitalism was the only exception.”
“Some played it better than others and acquired more wealth and wealth is power.”
“Thus, the role of government should be to check that power by ensuring the playing field and rules were applied equally.”
“All men are created equal, not all outcomes should be equal.”
I hold my hand up
Fred paused quite abrupt
With a pained look like please don’t interrupt
“I will simply say, we are no longer ‘The land of the free and home of the brave’ rather the land of the aggrieved and home of the knave.”
This was all he had to say
Fred dropped his ax and walked away
St. Milt’s Grand Opening today
Come and celebrate with us
On Martin Luther King Day
Worldwide choirs and gospel music
Singing MLK’s best loved hymns
Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simon
It’s grand opening, today
“Poetry Kids” reciting poems
Perfect for honoring the mission
Of this humble man, preacher, and scholar
It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Celebrate the great works he
Did for the Civil Rights Movement
Come and see our gallery
Recitals of Dr. King’s “We Shall Over Come”
“The Dream” his glorious words
That all men are created equal
Representing love and non-violence
We are serving MLK’s favorite foods
MLK was a minister, father, husband
And a son of the South
Here are the foods he loved to eat
Classic Southern foods we all love
A big Sunday meal
Southern delicacies
Fried Chicken
Sweet Potatoes
Pickled Eggs
Smothered Steak
Macaroni and Cheese
Collard Greens
Warm buttermilk cornbread
Quilly-Dr. King’s mother’s recipe
Pecan Pie
Where do we go from here?
Dr. King because of you, we are
Fairer and freer than in your time
Bigotry began to fade
More justice for all
Progress has been made
Dr. Martin Luther King,
You’ll march on in our spirits
Dr. Martin Luther King`s dream lives on
Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend--Martin Luther King Jr.
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends—Martin Luther King Jr.
He says he saw "(this nation's)
Identity sold and robbed by immigration..."
And I remember
My first day teaching at the border school
First one there that August morning
Cows were grazing on the lawn
I walked into the office to report them
and the secretary laughed, "They're Hector's.
They sneak over the border sometimes.
He's on his way to get them."
The crossing was two blocks away
There was a hole in the fence
Where all the kids from Mexico
Who attended school in America, crossed
Customs and border patrol agents knew them
AND watched them come and go
Safely
It really was an open border then
And no one felt their identity was threatened
America was built on the backs of immigrants
And those who came in chains
They worked for pennies and nothing at all
While white culture treated them as inferiors
Are we losing our identity as white supremacists
Because people of nonwhite culture refuse to be our inferiors
GOOD
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Declaration of Independence (if you read)
People coming to America to live free and pursue their happiness
Robs our identity
Really?
People coming to America to live free and pursue their dreams
IS our identity
not January 6 insurrectionists
not election deniers
not voting rights suppressors
NOT white supremacists
who are destructive to others' lives, liberty, and their happiness
My duty as a TRUE American Patriot is to call you out
You threaten the very principles upon which this nation stands
And like it or not, we will confront you, and block your way
This great country is made of great people,
not narrow minded _____
(Whatever fits)
I'm out
--Fly away.
We were compelled to believe that all men are created equal,
But they lied to our fore fathers and we are just the sequel.
You can turn back the page and gaze at what the truth reveals
Or ask your parents or grandparents to tell you how they feel.
At the bottom of the totem pole, set there on purpose
To see if you can climb up, but tell me is it worth this
To have “power” but your only power is to purchase
Never having any depth, just hovering above the surface.
Curiosity killed the cat, remember that what’s accepted is fact
Don’t retrace what’s been replaced, there 'll just be egg on your face.
But be not defeated by foes and adversaries
be motivated to be the 1st and pop all these virgin cherries.
The world is ever-changing and they need your wise mind
If you must, turn your back and let your eyes be blind
To anything negative and only be positive
How will your light shine if you always keep it closeted?
Soar among the tallest building and live right between the skies
Success is not an easy path, but unused talent always dies.
To be able to wake up every day is not a given but a blessing
Don’t squander the opportunity to teach the world a lesson.
Don’t be afraid to raise the roof higher and tell the devil he’s a liar
If you stay on top of your game then the world is yours to acquire.
--Fly away.
"The Deafening Colours"
Silence is the killer.
Never
the winner.
True power and control
possessed by the strident
voices of Courage
to be different -
through Unity,
reveals
the deafening colours
Soul Sovereignty
arrives ascending
through equality
Loud and vibrant
becomes Peace,
The Real Revolution
(LadyLabyrinth / 2020)
"I have a dream
that one day this nation will rise up,
live out the true meaning of its creed:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal."
Dr Martin Luther King
We stood hand over heart as the flag was unfurled
We were sheltered from the real world
All men are created equal is what they did teach
Never realizing, they don’t practice what they preach
Who said poor? We were rich beyond our dreams
Working to make ends meet, endlessly, it seems
There were Italians and Jews, Lithuanians and Greeks
Puerto Ricans and Poles, Germans and Dutch
No matter what your nationality or color was
We were neighbors. So, it didn’t matter much
I have memories of neighbors walking in our front door
Nobody knocking, just dropping in
I have memories of children playing on the parlor floor
Nobody judging the color of skin
Our riches were neighbors. Affluence carried no weight
We were sheltered from bigotry, sheltered from hate
God bless the children who knew neither hatred nor fear
God damn the people who brought those things here
When there is acceptance beyond what the eyes see
Then perhaps we can call this the land of the free
When there is truly no master and truly no slave
Then perhaps we can call this the home of the brave
We need to see the unity we’ve not had in the past
If we continue to hate, our country can’t last
If the American people can stand side by side
Then we can restore our American pride
When we stand together, again we’ll be strong
And we can be sheltered from all that was wrong
From the grounds of the south during the sweltering summer
of Negros in America*, came white violence and murder. The
suppression and degradation of decades. Americans treated
as less then a dog because they were not of a certain color.
For a country founded on “All Men are Created Equal” it is not
The truth or reality for many. When a voice came from angels
Dancing above, of a man with purpose and of dignity, standing
Strong in the body of Martin Luther King Jr. He walked degraded
ghetto streets with others of his purpose. From the steps of Abraham
rang out his voice in glory. His Dream, Our Dream. His Courage
became our Courage. From Rosa Parks to black student protests
to sit ins, marches and songs. John F. Kennedy, little black girls
and Lynden Johnson. A peaceful fight for civil rights was taken
to the White House ~ they won. Then the angels wept when
Martin was gunned down in the middle of our dream. His
Dream is not lost. He sings angels’ home, a warrior’s
call to Rise again in peaceful dissent. The white robes
of little minds are on the rise against civility. Angels
danced when he was born but we cannot dance yet….
gentle minister
freedom, peace, equality
born to show a dream
written 8-21-2019
for PS Contest:
Write a new haibun on the theme:
"Angels danced the day you were born
and they wept when they welcomed you home"
Engraved in chromes steel, is benedictions creed
The road warrior's born to be free mentality,
A legacy's name embossed in history, behold
The American Harley Davidson Motorcycle.
Fires hell bound creation, blazing down the
Interstates two lane highway, feasting upon
The concrete and asphalt jungle, it lives to be driven,
And is driven to live.
Emerging from brimstone's smoke, and hails
Lightning flash, a two wheeled vehicle of deliverance,
Cuts the wild heart in half, releasing mankind's
Inner beast setting it free, unto the open roads
Badlands, of ultimate abandonment to freedom's row.
The rebel unforgiven,thus follows the lost by ways
Seeking liberation’s untamed spiritual knowledge.
Held firmly beneath the wings of the American eagle, and
Draped within the standard most sacred
Under the red, white, and blue flag, of the U.S.A.
A living entity, releasing society's inhibitions,
At the sound of it's mighty roar, a freed lone wolf,
Racing against the winds of the restless spirit.
The leather jacket's brotherhood, symbolizing
A grand belief in the declaration of independence,
That all men are created equal, and shall have the
God given right, to seek true freedom's liberty at will.
These are the modern cowboy desperado's,
Riding upon dual engines of power,
Time bandits whom trust in God and country alone.
A stampers anvil strikes in thunders rage,
Melting quick silver, speeds downwards
Into a symbolic mold, leaving behind tradition's
Birthmark, and the Harley Davidson symbol
Is born.
BY: CHERYL ANNA DUNN
Constitution says All men are created equal
We live in the home of the brave
But we annihilated the Red man
And made the black man a slave
We imprisoned the Yellow man
And judged the poor and the gay
Only a rich straight white Christian
Can be a free man today
We thirsted for power, now isn't it odd
We raped, pillaged and plundered in the Name of God
We committed crimes time will never erase
Then thumped a Bible in your face
We sin compulsively assuming God will forgive it
Then preach Christianity but we never live it
We formed a bigoted society where hate is the rule
If we accept others as Equals we call our own a fool
We sit in judgement of others, I guess we forgot
This isn't the way that Jesus taught
I'm a straight white Christian so maybe I'll fall
But I'll die believing God created us all
So when I read the Bible and God's Children I see
I'll never assume it's only children like me.
I no longer listen to your bigoted view.
Equality for all, not just people like you.
Equality means Equality and Bigotry is Bigotry
Jesus said "Love Thy Neighbor" NO DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVE.
America is an idea
that "all men are created equal,"
before we cared to define "human", "created", or "equal."
America is freedom for our grandchildren
in a manner we will never understand.
It is the founding fathers who died for liberty.
It is the darker brothers who fought for justice from kitchens and pulpits.
It is the poor, the huddled masses,
And their children who have forgotten this.
It is green cards that become blue passports.
It is unlearning the language of our grandparents.
It is knowing how to pronounce Arkansas and Illinois
It is enjoying barbecues on somber national holidays.
It is unbridled enthusiasm.
It is unbridled arrogance.
It is rugged individualism;
It is passionate paternalism.
It is hellfire that scorches deserts.
It is a gust that has fanned flames.
It is a cool rain that puts out fires.
From sea to shining sea--
It is Manifest Destiny
from Louis and Clark to Wounded Knee.
It is Topaz, and McCarthy,
and hundreds of things we would rather forget.
It is D-day, and Neil Armstrong,
and thousands of things we forget to celebrate.
America is a dream that rings from the red hills of Georgia
to the curvaceous slopes of California
to New York Island.
It is patriotism;
it is progress.
It is the blind worship of our past.
It is red. It is blue.
It is red, white, and blue.
It is what half of us say it isn't.
I say it evolves constantly;
others say it was created in His image.
It is everything I hold dear;
it is everything that infuriates me.
It is the warmth that makes my eyes tear
when I hear the Star Spangled Banner
at football games,
on July 4th,
or on September 11th.
It is hope.
It is the promise of a better tomorrow.
It is what ever I am.
I, too, am America.
"The Greatest American Ever Born"
by: Eric L. Boddie
Usually, throughout the history of all things
The strongest of all is the one they call king
The greatest would be the one who would let Freedom ring
That's the idea of America, how long did it take you to join the team
Paul Revere rode for it, history says people could hear him scream
Since Washington is the champ, he gets the first green
We all know someone like Jefferson, he smiles in your face, you know that scheme
And everybody Loves Benjamin, turn something on and see what I mean
"All men are created equal" by the hypocrites is the song they sing
Then history says Lincoln Freed the slaves followed by decades of lynchings
But credit Grant with 50, his victory is supreme
And then enter the Great Depression with the New Deal Roosevelt brings
And Kennedy wanted Peace but learned the truth about how bullets sting
And Malcolm said color shouldn't keep a man from defending
And now we've got Obama, Martin's progress trending
Slowly swaying from the drama, the needed end to social lean
Where we can all reach the place where True Love is redeemed
And the one who achieves that will be the greatest, it seems
And the only one I've seen is the one who had a dream
That's why if Martin Luther were alive, he would have been proud to call Michael "King"
note: Martin Luther King, Jr. was actually named Michael Luther King, Jr. at birth, and his father changed both of their names in honor of the great protestant reformer, Martin Luther.
We hardly remember the truth
Victims of the Great Forgetting
We hardly recognize that history is popular culture
A screenplay of the past written by the victor
Just look at Thomas Jefferson
Author of the Declaration of Independence
With his quill scribing the words, "All men are created equal."
We hardly think of him slinking back to his slave plantation
Grabbing one of his African slave mistresses
and having his way with her
His love puppet
Of which he had a harem
My ninth grade teacher (whom had tenure)
whispered from the side of his face
The only thing Columbus discovered
Was those people he called Indians
Which we now call Native Americans
were savages in the sack
And the only thing he brought back
from the New World was syphilis
We hardly look at the big picture
which is that we are destroying ourselves
We cannot continue to keep living
the way we are living
And not expect civilization to collapse
We are so short sighted
We hardly see history repeating itself
We are Rome
And quite sadly Nixon is our Nero
Hardly a hero
It won't be long before
The clock strikes zero
By: Joseph DeMarco
Twenty score years ago, and some
The evil merchants crossed the waves
Gleeful as they raped and pillaged
Their cargoes of dark-skinned slaves
En route to the land of Liberty
Where all men are created equal
In their most frightening and wildest nightmares
They could never have envisioned the sequel
After four centuries of hatred, violence and exploitation
Against the human chattel who built this nation
The values upon which America was built
Would overcome its culture of greed
On the backs of unknown, unsung masses
Who bore the burden of long labor and whips lashes
And the prayers and Faith of prophet preachers
Came a man, half black, half white…
A new breed leader
Who dared to believe against all odds
That he could unite these United States
Seen only, perhaps, by The Dreamer…in ‘68
Who could have known our country’s fate
For the first time, truly, since 1776
A Golden Opportunity For Unity exists
That all Americans could possibly be One
Our new president alone cannot get this done
This is for you, for me, for we, for us
E Pluribus Unum, from many – one...
If God we trust?
Copyright 2009 Iger Rolyat All Rights Reserved
the cool breeze fondles
the old tattered flag as it
hangs on the flagpole
displaying it's frayed faded
colors of red, white, and blue
fluid in the wind
drawing your ears to the flags
flapping sounds trying
to tell manifold stories
of men and women's valor
8/19/2017
The Committee of Five edited Jefferson's draft. Their version survived further edits by the whole Congress intact, and reads:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ——
Happiness; 1776 the common meaning may have been "prosperity, thriving, wellbeing"
Genealogy
—The beginning of a family tree—
The misery of his life in this unwanted land nonetheless,
made him learn how to bear in times of hardship under
the scorching sun in the field; comprehend what is the meant by forgiveness
when carrying a heavy burden on his back under the pouring lashes;
finding the way to wait till time comes in the sleepless nights,
tossing himself on the rough straw mattress.
He, therefore, knew that no man will perish
if there is a dream, whether it is sweet or terrifying,
and, therefore, he handed his dream down to his offspring.
Because my forefathers underwent unbearable agonies,
because my forebear forgave his oppressors,
their unwanted land became my own,
it became my beloved motherland,
and I am standing here as a proud member of this nation
the nation that tries not to live in the past
but live in a promised future for all.
I am holding the hands of the people
seeking oneness not because of colors of skin
but because of individual personality and human dignity.
O now is the time we most see the things
through eyes that are not distorted by prejudice,
O now is the time to realize the true meaning
of this nation’s founding fathers as they proclaimed,
“All men are created equal,”
and march to the our future proudly,
waving our nation’s beautiful flag,
in the spirit of mutual understanding and reconciliation,
diving into the unceasing currents of unbreakable promise
in the mood of harmony and unity.