'country i love, like others, hurts'

'Country I love, like others, hurts'        timothy r gates, 5/02/2012

decades, never thought i'd still be here.
bomb shelters, the communists
"Better dead than red"
"America, love it or leave it!"
(thrown at teens only trying to understand,
and I didn't - some ways, still don't)
so, a little smoke
a little diamond laced dreams, awake
a protest against hatred
praying to a Jesus, no longer red haired, blue-eyed,
hoping for a day, where:
mothers weren't ignored when slapped around
children weren't beat in schools and homes
my friends at peace rallies could live side by side, neighbors
my boyhood friends, happened to be gay, wouldn't fear for their lives
war Veterans and Peace soldiers sing "America" together
those called "Indians" would not be treated as aliens
Malcolm's angst and Martin's dream would be healed
Protestants, Jews, Catholics, and Atheists would baptize fear with love
(Jesus people, and a new Atheist freedom movement - still hoping),
eyes and mind cleared, heart and soul:
we bleed the same colour
we've bled together
we want our children to be safe from our fears
we want our children to live freely.
Decades, later, didn't think i'd be here.
many things have changed.
many things have changed only to remain the same.
no more smoke, for me
no more paisley dotted skies, for me
friends once estranged, some still estranged
friends once pretending to be two aunts, uncles, now simply love you
friends once marginalized, not as much today.
Malcolm's angst and Martin's dream,
where, "Jesus loves the little children of the world,
red and yellow, black and white (and .......),"
where the dream evolved into hope,
and the hope became our reality --
well, yes, "we've" a long way to go.
Decades later, still here.
two things still matter to me:
my children's, and all children's peace and safety, living together.
my mother, grandparents, brother, friends, and all the others I see in the faces of our children,
I pray that these beloved, in blessed repose,
behold our children living in blessed play.
Decades later, still here.
Four dead in OHIO
Mother too.
MLK and MX, also.
Others, yes.
Country I love, like others, hurts.
And so it goes.