Just because you don't believe it,
doesn't mean I didn't mean it.
doesn't mean I didn't mean it.
277377 Curiosities served
Here is what will probably be my last pre-war protest post
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This is a poem I was introduced to my last semester at OU, and I have found myself returning to it over and over in the last few years. Even though it was published in 1997, its relevancy is increasing. My favorite thing is that its a protest poem but it still expresses belief and hope in what America is supposed to be. So enjoy.
Wanted
by Demetria Martinez (after Allen Ginsberg) 1988
America our marriage is coming apart
I've done everything right got my degree
Now you tell me my English won't do
America I'm not good enough for you?
Better my Spanglish than your smooth talk America
No I won't sleep with you not now not ever
Ah come on America all I wanted was a little
adobe house in Atrisco a porch swing
two ninos some democracy
Now I read in the Albuquerque Journal you left me for a younger woman
Bought drugs for guns guns for drugs
Destroyed Managua in order to save it
Spied on Communist Maryknoll nuns in Cleveland
America your face is on wanted posters in post offices
And I'm on sleeping pills again America
Last night I dreamed the Pentagon was a great
Ouija board spelling out REPENT REPENT
In half sleep I reached for you love but got
only a scent of amber waves of grain
I got up for a hit of caffeine the Book of Psalms
And whoosh I saw the promised land
You don't need citizenship papers there it's colored
and smells of refried beans
Remember who you are America
Purple mountain majesty above fruited plains
worked by mejicanos
America call off your dogs
America give me a green card though I don't qualify
America forgive me if I gag on your memory
at La Paloma bar on South Broadway
America I'm twenty-seven and tired thanks to you
And thanks to you I found God on a stoop on Arno Street
America you claim crime's fierce in this neighborhood
I tell you it's nothing next to your crimes
The wars we fund start at the package liquor store
and end twice a year at confession
America I don't want progress I want redemption
Cut the shit we could be lovers again don't hang up
America I'm your dark side embrace me and be saved
Pull yourself up by your bootstraps I know you can
America I'm not all bitter I'm a registered Republican
At parties when friends ask America who? I introduce
you explain you had a difficult upbringing
But I can't cover up for you America get that straight
Honey it's not too late it's not too late
America the ball's in your court now
by Demetria Martinez (after Allen Ginsberg) 1988
America our marriage is coming apart
I've done everything right got my degree
Now you tell me my English won't do
America I'm not good enough for you?
Better my Spanglish than your smooth talk America
No I won't sleep with you not now not ever
Ah come on America all I wanted was a little
adobe house in Atrisco a porch swing
two ninos some democracy
Now I read in the Albuquerque Journal you left me for a younger woman
Bought drugs for guns guns for drugs
Destroyed Managua in order to save it
Spied on Communist Maryknoll nuns in Cleveland
America your face is on wanted posters in post offices
And I'm on sleeping pills again America
Last night I dreamed the Pentagon was a great
Ouija board spelling out REPENT REPENT
In half sleep I reached for you love but got
only a scent of amber waves of grain
I got up for a hit of caffeine the Book of Psalms
And whoosh I saw the promised land
You don't need citizenship papers there it's colored
and smells of refried beans
Remember who you are America
Purple mountain majesty above fruited plains
worked by mejicanos
America call off your dogs
America give me a green card though I don't qualify
America forgive me if I gag on your memory
at La Paloma bar on South Broadway
America I'm twenty-seven and tired thanks to you
And thanks to you I found God on a stoop on Arno Street
America you claim crime's fierce in this neighborhood
I tell you it's nothing next to your crimes
The wars we fund start at the package liquor store
and end twice a year at confession
America I don't want progress I want redemption
Cut the shit we could be lovers again don't hang up
America I'm your dark side embrace me and be saved
Pull yourself up by your bootstraps I know you can
America I'm not all bitter I'm a registered Republican
At parties when friends ask America who? I introduce
you explain you had a difficult upbringing
But I can't cover up for you America get that straight
Honey it's not too late it's not too late
America the ball's in your court now
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