I, too, sing [REDACTED]
And so,
O say can you see
this Land of the Free?
For the theys, the thems,
The hes and shes
The wes?
Where We the People sing?
Land where our fathers –
***ONLY*** our fathers –
Only white straight Christian fathers died.
Land of the pilgrim’s pride.
Clean of all genocide.
Of thee I sing?
For this Land is my Land.Land of bloody wire coat hangers
Red
Land of proud white men
WhiteLand of asphyxiation
Blue
Land with no process due.
These colors don’t run
(there are none).
Oh hear this Freedom ring!
From bruise-purple mountain majesties
above the fruited plain –
(And the fruit was never bitter, never was it strange.)
Sweet, sweet Land of Liberty
(Where no ICE facility
Says give your tired your poor
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free
Send these homeless tempest-tost to me.)
Father knows best,
Mother of Exiles needs her rest
after her lobotomy.
And so teachers teach immaculate
flag-draped history
purged of all atrocity.
Republic or democracy,
hear this Freedom ring?
For this Land is your Land.
You, making America great again.
And it was at its greatest when?
And great for who?
And when you’re through…
O Say will that star spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free
And the home of the brave?
Hannah E. Sobhie has lived in Indianapolis her entire life. She attended Marian University, where she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Sociology and minors in English and Philosophy. Upon graduating from Marian, she was accepted to IU McKinney’s School of Law, earning her law degree as well as a certificate in Civil and Human Rights.
She has long been dedicated to exploring issues of intersectionality in history, law, identity, justice, human nature, and human rights, both in her professional work and personal life.
She has been writing poetry ever since she was a child.