They say we are
"One Nation
Under God".
Well, then
I must be
One uncomprehending sod
Because about
Every place I look,
I see some situation
That this concept
Will not brook.
In cities people group
By ancestry
And pedigree,
And their "nationality"
To others they decree:
"I am Italian!", "I'm Polish!"
They exclaim.
And proudly produce
Their long last name.
But then,
If to "their country"
They "return",
Like "Bloody Yanks" they're treated,
But they just don't learn...
In college cafeterias
Young people gather
By race criteria
Just like them "birds of feather".
Blacks sit with Blacks,
And Whites prefer another White,
And Asians with their own kind
Unite.
And at another table,
All the Spanish speakers sit
So their ideas to a kindred mind
They can transmit.
In jails also, into three great congregations
The prisoners themselves arrange:
The White , the Black and the Hispanic "nations".
Ain't it just strange?
Sometimes I wonder if
Perhaps, one day
Into a few more countries
This great country will itself parlay:
Hispania and Asiania
And Whitia ,
Alaskan Nativelandia and Native Amerindia,
Or Blackia and Caucasania...
You think I'm kidding' ya?
Somehow we just can't be all 'Americans',
Like bears are bears,
And pelicans are pelicans-
We simply love to sow divisions 'twixt us all
And just "Americans" we ourselves refuse to call...
But still they tell us
We are One Great Nation Under God
For which so many
Veterans have shed their blood.
I wonder how those
Who for this Nation
Their lives surrendered
Feel when they see
How many separations
We've engendered.
