Thanksgiving
11/28/2004
16 kisleiv 5765
i am proud to be an american
i am ashamed to be an american
red
blood on red coats
and on "red" skins
white
skin beating down the black
blue
as the sky over new york city
slivers between the skyscrapers
when it's not too cloudy to see
from the rising-place of the sun
unto the place it sets
from sea to shining sea
i am america
born in sin
raised on the streets
drunk on destiny
clouded by hubris
trying to do the right thing
in a wrong wrong world
i am older now
i see things through many eyes
things as they might have been
and i slouch towards a distant future
hoping to be reborn
16 kisleiv 5765
i am proud to be an american
i am ashamed to be an american
red
blood on red coats
and on "red" skins
white
skin beating down the black
blue
as the sky over new york city
slivers between the skyscrapers
when it's not too cloudy to see
from the rising-place of the sun
unto the place it sets
from sea to shining sea
i am america
born in sin
raised on the streets
drunk on destiny
clouded by hubris
trying to do the right thing
in a wrong wrong world
i am older now
i see things through many eyes
things as they might have been
and i slouch towards a distant future
hoping to be reborn
carved on the walls of the caverns by Steg (dos iz nit der šteg) at 11/23/2005 02:19:00 PM
17 Comments:
The possibility has been raised, among those crowds in which I run, that in today's world, Thanksgiving could use a day of reflection preceding it, as Yom haZikaron precedes Yom haAtsmaut: to remind us of all the prices that have been paid - by ourselves, our heroes, and our victims - so that we could live the blessed life we collectively do, with more freedom and understanding than any generation or country before us.
Octagon--
What a great idea! Sort of like Ta`anis Ester (now with the feminist ta`anis dibbur) before Puyrim [sic?].
I would like the puritan religious subtext removed. It is hard to argue that "our ancestors" came here for religious freedom, when the group most focused on (the purits) came here specifically to get away from all the 'heretics' that they despised, and to found a religious dictatorship.
In addition, how does the puritan element speak to me as a Dutch American? I can hear it now.... a group of Nieuw Amsterdam Burgers, talking about the puritans who have only recently landed: "voorzichtig zijn, jongens, voor je het weet hebben die lui niet alleen de Indianen beroofd, maar ook ons. Wedden dat over drie honderd jaren onze afstammelingen niet eens meer meetellen." [Carefull, boys, before you know it that bunch will have robbed not only the Indians, but also us. Waddya bet that over three centuries our descendants won't even count for anything anymore.]
I like the idea of a day of reflection slash fasting. But wouldn't it inevitably conflict idea-wise with Columbus day?
Or is that the natural corollary - the hhag ha hubris?
Thanks for the comments!
Just wondering, does anyone recognize any of the allusions in the poem?
Habib:
Actually, i didn't even think of Slouching Towards Gomorrah — it was supposed to be a reference to the same thing as S.T.G. ("Steg"?!) is referencing, the last lines of the poem The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats:
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
Nuffin nuffin nuffin
Rhymes with muffin
But nuffin nuffin nuffin
Rhymes with 'orange'
Could it be
That a cup of tea
Is not as good with an orange
As a muffin?
But nuffin nuffin nuffin
Rhymes with 'orange'
No, that's SHEKER!! In fact, "door-hinge" rhymes with "orange".
So it does!
Another mystery of life solved.
I wish I was gutsy enough to put original poetry on my blog!
only if you pronounce "orange" funny..
Steg: William Butler Yeats for frum folk. I like it - and the poem...but not the orange/door hinge rhyme.
First, there was Yeats.
Then someone, I can't remember who, wrote "Slouching Toward Bethlehem".
Then someone, I can't remember who, wrote "Slouching Toward Gemorrah".
Then Dan Savage wrote "Skipping Toward Gemorrah".
Can we add a Dutch element to Thanksgiving by singing the "Istanbul" song?
Is that a real rhyme? I always assumed as much, though I myself have only encountered it in George Orwell's nove 1984.
Sorry:
novel, not *nove.
But what does it mean?
i liked that a lot - caught some of the allusions.
to someone above - Portugese Jews came to early America to escape persecution, I believe.
Hello Shmutzy,
The first Portugese Jews were on Dutch ship getting away from a Brazil recaptured from the Dutch West Indies Company by Portugal.
The then governor of New Amsterdam, Peter Stuyvesant, did not want to grant them residency, being himself a little, shall we say, antisemitic. They appealed to the home office of the company (the de facto government of overseas possessions), who told Stuyvesant to cool it - the Jews in question were Dutch subjects, the company had to operate under Dutch laws, and the Dutch government had granted 'freedom of conscience' to everybody except the Catholics.
So they stayed.
Thanks, Shmutzy!
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