My poetry snippet

Poetry held little for me until I discovered Langston Hughes' "Harlem" (alternatively titled "A Dream Deferred"). I just recently found "Let America be America Again," so here's a snippet:

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Read the rest here. The "It never was America to me" holds incredible election year relevance in my mind.

Note to self: get a life that doesn't revolve around politics.

In further news, I know I'm pretty silent most of the time, and most of you don't know me well, but if you could find it in you to think some good thoughts for me on tuesday, I'd appreciate it. I have an MRI appointment to sort out a knee injury, and am hoping that there will be no sharp pointy things in my future, as grad school waits for no woman and I have an irrational fear of things breaching my skin. I purposely scheduled the appointment for the day AFTER my birthday, in case news is bad, but I retain hope that with enough positive thought all I'll need is a bit of rest and PT.