Who We Are
Here’s to all Americans
who choose right over wrong.
Here’s to all Americans
who follow the Golden Rule
because it is gold, not Fool’s Gold.
Here’s to all Americans
who respect and honor women
as their own Mother.
Here’s to all Americans
who do not murder,
lie, cheat or steal.
Here’s to all Americans
who neither give
nor take a bribe.
Here’s to all Americans
who are more than happy
for everyone to have enough.
Here’s to all Americans
with broad shoulders and big hearts
who carry their fellow citizens
with narrow shoulders and weak hearts.
Here’s to all Americans
who embrace their neighbor —
regardless of race, creed,
nationality, gender or sexuality.
Here’s to all Americans
who have compassion
upon the poor, the elderly,
the sick, the homeless,
the handicapped, the hopeless.
Here’s to all Americans
who listen rather than shout,
who consider another person’s
feelings and point of view.
Here’s to all Americans
who talk through problems
and work cooperatively
to create effective solutions.
Here’s to all Americans
who plant a seed
rather than fire a gun.
Here’s to all Americans
who love their country
but hate its greed,
cruelty and hypocrisy.
Here’s to all Americans
who do their job
and pay their taxes --
for the common good.
Here’s to all Americans
who worship a Higher Power,
yet who accept those
who worship that Power
by a different name --
or by no name at all.
Here’s to all Americans
whose handshake is their word,
whose word is tried and true.
Here’s to all Americans
who teach their children
by their own example
and strive to leave them
the gift of a better world.
Here’s to all Americans
who love the earth
like a second Mother.
Here’s to all Americans
who will fight in self-defense
or to protect the weak —
but not for power or selfish gain.
Here’s to all Americans
who respect the rights of others —
and also their freedoms —
as much as their own.
Here’s to all Americans
who choose love over hate,
who choose to heal
rather than to kill.
(Let’s remember who we are.)