I’ve heard America singing
The gandydancers swinging so low
Folkstreaming visions of work
Now outsourced to a machine
That hums so white but low still
I’ve heard America singing
That poet’s barbaric yawp
Carrying me Home
Celebrating self songs of accomplished visions
While a Native Laureate’s flags unfurl in a river flowing West to Oklahoma
I’ve heard America singing
The pulpit’s amens looking down on
Colorblocked angels who come after me,
Shoulder to shoulder but divided still
In segregated harmonies
I’ve heard America singing
Eyes turned flagward
Before the game…
Mumbled uncertainty of tomorrow’s
Choked on words hard to forget…
Here’s what I hear:
America’s face now in a book
Dancers, poets, underground preachers…players
Each sweet with a prophet’s vision’s babel
Towering cacophony, all talking at once
Listening I wonder am I the only one
Who Heard America's Singing?
