FIFTH GRADE HOMEROOM

Once I had a teacher
who taught me of the making of this land
Outcasts from across the sea
Came to find a world they could command
I remember crying over all the blood
Spilled by white mans hands
And to this very day
I just don't understand

And as I read on farther
centuries of human history
And in those pages all I found
Was someone killing someone to be free
There isn't any reason
That anyone can give that I'd believe
This isn't what we're here for
We have been deceived

Hiroshima, Viet Nam, even Jesus Christ
Children holding children
at gun point every night
Presidents, stolen slaves,
persecuted jews
History repeats itself
read all about it in the news

Remember Pearl Harbor
remember the Alamo
Remember Springfield, Oregon
turn off this horrid picture show
Stop and think about it
is this the legacy we're living for

©Michael Frazier, June 1, 1998