4th of You Lie

( Found Poem)

The course of

a long train

of repeated injuries

and usurpations

move me to dissolve

any political bonds

to this day of celebration

supposed to connect

us with one another

as created equals.

My belief is still strong

and roots tied to this country

with its unalienable rights

liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

When Government becomes

destructive to these ends

the history,

the right, 

of the people

British, Native American,

women, African American

Asian, Latino, queer, immigrants…

have taken to the streets

to alter it

not disposed to suffer

fighting to right themselves

not relinquishing any

rights to representation.

Through the smoke

the explosions

hear me declare the causes

which impel the separation.

I won’t put my hand over my heart

I will don pink sneakers and by any means
a back brace, never fatigued into compliance.

Forced expression of allegiance

formidable for tyrants only.

Stop obstructing laws of naturalization!

Why render the military independent

superior to civil power?

Protecting them by mock trail

from punishment for any

rapes which they committed

with manly firmness

against female soldiers.

Stop creating barriers,

policies to control 

women’s bodies

most likely to effect their safety

and happiness.

Stop the continued allowances

to plunder our seas

ravage our coasts.

These are facts submitted

to a candid world,

if we are mutually pledged

to our future and our sacred honor

let us assent to laws

most wholesome

for the public good.

From: “Declaration of Independence [Adopted in Congress 4 July 1776]