I am a proud American,
Nothing more, nothing less,
No tags to wear,
No labels to confess.
I am not blind to history,
Nor unaware of our mistakes.
Like nations older than our own,
We've known the risks that failure makes.
Yet through the trials of our past,
We learned, endured, and found a way.
To rise above our broken roads
And build a stronger path each day.
History is not a chain to drag,
Nor a script we must obey.
It is a compass in our hands,
To guide us forward on our way.
I know what this country means to me,
A truth no one can redefine.
Not by titles, not by degrees,
Nor by a different view than mine.
So let me stand where I believe,
Without demands that I conform.
Leave me be, and walk in peace,
No anger, only calm and warmth.
For I am a proud American,
Nothing more, nothing less;
A citizen of hope and freedom,
Without a need for anything else.
I’m just an American, and proud to be!
By James C. Chapman
Poetry Wheel Challenge:
Theme: Night
Emotion: Angry
Color: Crimson
Season: Festive
Form: Cinquain
Object: Mirror
Verb: Hiss
Created using the PoetrySoup Poetry Wheel.
NIGHT
BLACKNESS, BLINDED
UNKNOWN SOUNDS HEARD
WONDERING ORIGIN PREDATOR
HUNTED
As below, and
So on top
And so it seems
The whole has got
To give its soul
Over to, ego and control;
For it is the team
That is the biggest fink,
And for the many
It would seem
The individual, is
The weakest link.
neighbor Sue keeps her man on a chain
tethered to the porch in sun or rain
don’t let him loose, she cautions me
in a full moon, a werewolf he will be…
I felt sorry for him, my neighbor Jim
released him one night, on a crazy whim
He savagely bit my leg, so now there are two
Werewolves to tether for my neighbor Sue
Lambs are getting fat.
Cat eyes the rat.
Here come a school of fishies
Hear the clatter of dishies --
Even vegetarians must
Slice, dice or chop --
The apple rolls away.
The cabbage hollers~ Stop!
The owls are back, they talk in the night
I try to discern their language of flight
There's much there to learn if I could interpret
But my mind is earthbound, much as I might work it
Some feathers sing and some cry out loud
But the owls are selective, they don't like a crowd
They talk to each other in a voice I would capture
If I could but learn the language of raptor
Still my mind is earthbound and lacking insight
I admire and ponder this language of flight
I've never seen them, my vision is dim
They leave me, believe me, out on a limb
The dogs complain, they don't like them much
But their visit is short and then back to their clutch
There's a rabbit that lives here, under the shed
But he's keeping quiet, and keeping his head
The black cat is blending somewhere in the night
He knows his survival depends on his sight
And I lie bedridden, depending on sleep
My flight not so fancy as that of the sweep
When I was a girl,
Every once in a while,
I’d receive in the mail,
Because that was the style,
A letter to copy
And send to a name
At the top of a list,
Which in that letter came.
When you copied the note,
You’d add your own address
To the list, while deleting
The top one. Success
Came when after some days
You’d receive quite a slew
Of the letters, from strangers,
Delivered to you.
If you followed the rules,
You would have some good luck.
If you didn’t, without it,
I guess you’d be stuck.
The letters back then
Needed stamps and were mailed
And the fun part was knowing
That you had prevailed.
Now my granddaughter sent me
A chain in a text:
“Sent to 15 new people
Or what happens next
Will be lots of bad luck
For 3 years if you don’t.
If you do, you will get
A new phone.” (No, I won’t.)
“You will also be getting
The pet of your dreams.
Everybody will love you!”
I guess that’s how it seems
To the youth of today,
But with this kind of chain,
As I wrote to my granddaughter,
I will refrain.
We are all in it..' we're all a part.' Each action and reaction.. The stops and starts
We have also the oil, of the Spirit thats Number One..Apply it librally or the rust will
Come it starts in flecks..Its liable to grow its a sickness acedemia, is most liable to know' it seizes.' It captures first off its exponents..I thrives in humidity and damp
Also neglect is prime' and our silence to opponents.' Contend for the faith..Or the
Cycle will not move. A moribund agenda will emerge, and all people much will loose'
Flower flourishes, then follows the fruit,
Dark clouds gather, only then comes the rain,
Seed’s sown at first, and then arises sprout,
Cause and effect, ah what a sure-set chain!
________________________________
Sanskrit translations | 13.01.2026 | cause/effect, change, fruit, rain, seed/sprout, quatrain
Note: Sanskrit has thousands of Subhashhitams, words well said set in a quatrain and metered. Transliteration of one talking about cause and effect follows.
Udeti poorvam kusumam, tatah phalam |
Ghana-udayam praak, payah tat antaram |
Nimitta-naimittikayoh kramah ayam || Subhaashhitam ||
Cheek bones high as clouds
Quiet moody eyes that shout
Chain gang dream break free
an evergreen tree
dons a frosty coat of white
its snow-laden boughs
hang heavy with winter’s tears
like incandescent pinecones
a jolly snowman
with a Pinocchio nose
wears momma’s red scarf
its buttoned smile, coal black eyes
and pipe, polished to a gleam
I dance in the snow
as arctic breaths billow in
a mushroom of smoke
snowflakes faintly touch my lips
then melt in a puff of air
‘I wear the chain forged in life.’ – Charles Dickens from A Christmas Carol.
Enduring the daily drudgery ahead –
providing no comfort, only burden.
Resisting the luxury of memories
as regrets only serve a selfish purpose –
clamouring like Marley’s chains.
The dulcet tones of unchained laughter
free of guile and regrets.
I welcome the many fond memories –
comforting medals of honour.
I embrace the promise of the family gathering ahead.
My thoughts take me down memory’s lane,
Lane of bygone days that bring me pain.
Pain that pricks where it once hurt,
Hurt that sinks the soul in dirt.
Dirt of grief that clouds the face,
Face that glows with love’s embrace.
Embrace of dreams we once did weave,
Weave of fairytales we still believe.
Believe in love — the truth we teach,
Teach through hearts, more than speech.
meet mom past the Wall
Tristan uses a candle
crash landing a star
trip of love unfolds
meeting witches kings pirates
To dust far above
chill
chilly
chillier
chow
chowder
chowing down
cheerful
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