Then, There Was No Right to Eat

A poem for Independence Day (USA) about how best to interpret the words of the founding fathers: Then, there was no right to eat, nor was health A right, nor freedom for a slave. Native Peoples were simply dispossessed, and wealth Accrued to men only. The fierce and furtive Cries for love, gay or straight, were smothered. Non-human animals had no rights, nor children Left to drunken fathers or brutal mothers. Oh, yes, that government governed least, but no one Could foresee the brood of rights sprung From words that rang out across the western world That summer day, rights now nearly won, That long lay fearful in predawn silence curled. The founders were wise, but to be true to them, We must apply their words to now, not then. © by Nicholas Gordon To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/thenth.html. For more poems about Independence Day (USA), go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/july4thpoems.html .