My America (For Hugh Downs)
by Nikki Giovanni
Not a bad country…neither the best nor the worst…just a place
we call home…and we open the door…to the tired and the
poor…to the huddled masses yearning…to be free…to those
in need…because we need…to be needed
Not a bad country…but adolescently indifferent…with time
running out…on our innocence
Not a bad country…but attention must be paid…to how the
bounty came to be ours…to all the people…who make up the
people…that we are
A thought here and there…a “maybe this could have been done
differently”…the patience that is required of those who aspire
to be…if not the best…then at least better
Not a bad country in fact…most likely…the best possible
hope…of human beings…to exemplify differences that:
can share prosperity…can tolerate choices…can respect
individuals…can teach us all…to love
from QUILTING THE BLACK-EYED PEA, HarperCollins © 2002
Most Poetry will post a poem by a Black poet each day through the month of June.