Tuesday, September 8, 2009

There’s Been Someone Watching

by Milton Lee Norris


They sang my country tis of thee,
They sang those words as if they were for me,
But somehow I never felt that they meant that it was my country too,
How could they, especially the way they treated my people and me.

In school we had to pledge allegiance to the American flag.
We had to pledge our loyalty and faithfulness to a flag that was created to represent this United States of America, how arrogant is that?
This pledge was for this country tis of thee.

Who created this country called the United States of America?
Who created the other countries and the world at large?
Who created the universe so great and so vast?
Who created you and me, our mothers and fathers, the valleys and steams?
Who created the mountains so high, rivers so wide and oceans so deep?

Yes who created all of the birds, the squirrels, and fish in the sea?
Who created the elephants and lions that roam the jungle so free,
Who created all of the creatures in our world we see,
And all the worlds which we cannot see?

Yes you say my country tis of thee, but how was it for me?
When you wrote this constitution and you said that black people were only 3/5 of a person, and then you wanted us to be under your command, what were they thinking when they wrote the pledge of allegiance and my country tis of thee?

They couldn’t have been speaking of slaves, Black people, African American People of Color because remember they only thought of us as partial human beings.
For an arrogant government, you really aren’t that smart.
My country tis of thee was not a country intended for me,
But perhaps now there’s a bigger chance for this my country tis of thee,
To shine some light on me.

Perhaps now my country tis of thee
Can also shine more light on thee.
Perhaps this country now can see
Why what was written didn’t really make sense me.

Perhaps now you see how arrogant you were from the very start.
To think that you could steal from everywhere around,
And think that you were entitled makes little sense to me.
To think that you could enslave all that you once enslaved,
And think that too was right makes even less sense to me.

To think that you could rape and think that was okay,
And to think that you could kill without rhyme or reason,
And then to think that was less than treason,
That it must have been okay to do,
Makes me wonder much more about you.

You created laws but they must not have been created for you;
Why you’ve never been punished for any of those crimes you did,
Oh how arrogant a country is America to me.
And to continue this thinking for centuries as you raped, hung,
And stole our children too and that this should be allowed,
Is truly beyond what I can ever comprehend.

And then to have never said that you were sorry,
Or that your actions were even crimes makes no sense to me;
It only proves what I’m saying about this country tis of thee.
Your shame was not looked at in any disdain,
And looking back I wonder why because even children apologize,
When they have done something wrong.

But then again you do have the greatest imagination,
When it comes to fabrication.
You created your own history while leaving ours out,
And yet you call it the history of America without any hesitation.

How you’ve lied and how you cheated,
Robbing more each time you spoke.
But you see that your greed and lies got so big along the way,
That you no longer could keep tract of what you had on display.
But you see there was someone watching who sees you everyday,
Who’s been watching you for centuries as worked us to the bone.

There was someone watching as you robbed and cheated us.
There was someone watching as you brutalized our people.
There was someone watching as you set fires to our churches.
There was someone watching as you beat us for speaking out.
There was someone watching as you struck us just for looking.
There was someone watching when we took each blow you gave.
There was someone watching who would let us have our day.

There was someone always watching as you spent all this money,
Some money that was yours and more money that was theirs.
There was someone always watching as you built larger, more grandiose,
More expensive and more decadent parlors.
Yes there was always someone watching as you hoarded in more money,
More land, more buildings, more jewelry, and more drugs too.

There’s been someone watching as you wasted what you had.
There’s been someone watching as you threw so much away.
There’s been someone watching as you pretended to be good.
There’s been someone watching as you entered to God’s church.
There’s been someone watching as gave pittance to the church
And even less to the poor.
There’s been someone watching when you would not rescue the homeless.
There’s been someone watching when you would not help those in need.
There’s been someone watching when you would not help the sick and elderly.
There’s been someone watching when you would not feed the hungry.
There’s been someone watching as you threw food in your garbage cans,
And covered it so tightly to keep from feeding the poor.

Oh there’s been someone watching
Who finds you more offensive than your old Scrooge.
There’s been someone watching when you would not worship God.
There’s been someone watching who calls us all to bear,
And since you preferred to disobey and worship those you did,
Your money, your property, your jobs, all collapsed as you can see.
Your arrogance and greed commanded all of your ills,
That’s why America has fallen down to her knees.
So let’s not blame anyone other than ourselves for what we have done,
For what was done was done by many in their own collective ways.