#Land of the Free

17 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

errant wave
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Born from a war against our own,
from taxation, our complaints not shown.
Outnumbered and untrained, yet
we fought for liberty or for death.

The fathers wanted rights for all man,
and freedom across their new wild land.
We proved ourselves, sovereignty won,
but our path to glory had just begun.

The first steps towards recognition,
trying to make other countries listen.
Pirate raids, the storming of Tripoli,
the first signs of our violent destiny.

Outward we expanded, led by curiosity,
our faulty treaties fueled Native animosity.
The bells rang, the White House burned,
in 1812, an important lesson learned.

Further into the New World we continued,
The force of Manifest Destiney renewed,
One by one, our lands were all bought,
Until we looked more like today than not.

But progress comes with a political price,
As senators keeping peace rolled the dice
Free or Slave, each new state was branded.
Leaving many in-between feeling stranded.

Anger boils over, and conflict ensues,
states took their sides, all must choose
North vs South, brother vs brother,
civil war had begun, families torn asunder.

The world was changing, for better or not,
slaves were freed, and early dreadnoughts.
Many of our sons died for us to reunite,
meanwhile, a new war was soon in sight.

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Across the seas, another war had erupted,
alliances honored and morals corrupted.
But even as the news of horrors spread,
we chose to let them settle it instead…

…Until we were stabbed in the back,
Lusitania sunk and Mexico told to attack.
Forced to war, and we weren’t prepared,
still, we had to send our boys “over there!”

Arriving into combat, our allies deplorable,
laughed at our troops, thinking us terrible.
Never even saluted, treated like kids,
but after Belleau Wood, salute us they did.

The war had ended, and our boys returned,
our status as a world power we had earned.
Thus the Roaring 20’s started, prosperity,
good times and we partied without clarity.

It all came to an end when Wall Street fell,
great losses and many sad stories to tell.
The world sank into the Great Depression,
times were tough, a widespread recession.

But out of this disaster came opportunity,
to turn it around and rebuild communities.
Roosevelt’s New Deal had paved the way,
but it isn’t with him that our recovery lays.

Something was brewing across the seas,
a country ruined by wrongful disparities.
Placed under sanctions, unsettled score,
now they would have their violent encore.

The Axis powers began their retributions,
fueled by stockpiled tanks and munitions.
Even as we saw the foreign chaos renew,
our neutrality limited what we would do.

Our resolve for peace was lengthily kept,
but that all changed when Japan leapt.
Without warning they bombed our shores,
telling us we could be neutral no more.

Soon we were back on the front lines,
our allies thinking it was about time.
Africa, D-Day, the Pacific Island campaign,
Celebrating in France with old champagne.

We came, we saw, we kicked a lot of a**,
but our moment of action would soon pass.
Now we had adopted a new foreign policy,
to help defend the world’s democracy.

Korea was the first to need our aid,
our tanks and troops came in spades.
Back home, rights for all were gained
Voting rights and desegregation attained

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The Cold War was in full swing and snare,
Nukes in Cuba gave everyone a big scare.
Vietnam was where we next sent our boys.
but it was a place and war no-one enjoyed.

The jungles became graveyards for men,
napalm bombs, and shallow foxhole dens,
The war was eventually considered lost,
as families back home considered the cost.

Time marches on, and we keep going,
what the next day brings, never knowing.
But even when we’re divided as can be,
we never stop being the Land of the Free.

uncut egret
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hello documenter of american history

errant wave
errant wave
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As the youngest in a long family heritage of service to this country, and my love of our history, this one means a lot to me.

quartz crystal
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That was an epic if ever I've read one. Good show, great work.

errant wave
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I could probably extend it, as I’m thinking of adding more on our internal history, like before the civil war

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@quartz crystal yep I extended it

fossil lake
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color me impressed, this is great stuff

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u were right, u do rhyme very well. practically no forced rhymes here, no real critique to offer

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i'd criticise the flow but there's no meter in this piece and i doubt u knew what that is, so it's pretty good even without that

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enjoyable and engaging, this was a well-written poem and i look forward to reading more of ur stuff

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have a great day, man

errant wave