Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed.
--Langston Hughes
--Langston Hughes
This land is my land
we walk shaky ground
listen for deep grumbles
expect the earth to open, to swallow, to belch.
our hands empty
in travels we hold a shield of not me.
in the land of the deluded
our freedoms lost, our words of greatness in shreds
so much confetti the marriage failed
a nation divided.
we gather in small groups
shake out heads and moan for dreams deferred
cast votes for the lesser devils
press-manipulated we feel pressed -
folded, torn, useless.
we grab our comforts
curl in favorite chairs
try to remember
America of the dream dreamers dreamed—
sleep and wake to un-changed change.
Eve Rifkah is editor of the literary journal Diner and co-founder of Poetry Oasis, Inc., a non-profit poetry association dedicated to education, promoting local poets and publishing Diner. Poems have or will appear in Bellevue Literary Review, The MacGuffin, 5 AM, Parthenon West, newversenews.com, poetrymagazine.com, Chaffin Journal, Porcupine Press, The Worcester Review, California Quarterly, ReDactions, Jabberwock Review, Southern New Hampshire Literary Journal and translated into Braille. Her chapbook At the Leprosarium won the 2003 Revelever chapbook contest. At this time she is a professor of English at Worcester and Fitchburg State Colleges and a workshop instructor.