The Beauty of It

We are one nation
Divided
Geographically
Politically
Phonetically
Monetarily
Religiously
Under God?
Allah?
Buddha?
Little green space men from mars?
All of those and none
None of those and all
We are one people
Of many colors
Free to agree
To debate
Free to protest
To campaign
To hate
To have mercy
One nation
A Freedom Nation
And that’s the beauty of it.

© 2006 Dana Sieben

Patriots Day - September 11, 2006

"Patriot Day commemorates the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The holiday was created by a joint resolution of the US House on October 25, 2001 and signed into lay by President George W. Bush on December 18,2001."

- zingerbug.com

The Woods

We were lost in the woods, my sister and I,
Which was absurd.
We grew up next to those groves of pine,
And knew every trail and every tree.
Even the coal mine shafts
Long forgotten.
Over time we had found
Copper pipes
From moonshine stills long gone.
Antique green bottles and clear glasses
From a housewife’s table,
Words rubbed off.
Trails led to fantasy places;
Like Case Rock, two boulders
Deposited on the banks of the Warrior River,
A jungle gym for country children
To find and climb
And bask on in the heat of the day.
Forests of bamboo, the sandy ground
was our playground,
the river our teacher,
watching water moccasins fall
from the trees into the murky water
and swim away.
And now, I am thirty-seven
And I am lost in these woods,
No longer are they familiar to my sister and I.
Logging has robbed us of our knowledge,
Most of our southern pines,
Our trails.
We find our way home
By the memories we share
But while we are lost,
I inhale the smells and memories
Of the Alabama woods I love
And I am glad I am here.

© 2005 Dana Sieben