I love my country
by which I mean I am indebted joyfully
to all the people throughout it's history 
who have fought the government to make right

where so many cunning sons and daughters
our foremothers and forefathers
came signing through slaughter
through hell and high water
so that we could stand here
and behold breathlessly the sight
how a raging river of tears
cut the grand canyon of light

yes i've been so many places
flown through vast empty spaces
with stewardesses whose hands 
looked much older than their faces
and i've tossed so many napkins into that big hole in the sky
i've been at the bottom of the atlantic seething inside a two-ply
looking up through all that water and the fishes swimming by

and i don't always feel lucky
but i'm smart enough to try
because humility has buoyancy
and above us only sky

so i lean in and breathe deeper that brutal burning smell
that surrounds the smoldering wreckage that i've come to love so well
yes, color me stunned and dazzled by all the red, white and blue flashing lights
in the American intersection where black crashed head-on with white
comes a melody, comes a rhythm, a particular resonance
that is us, and only us, comes a screaming ambulance

a hand that you can trust, laid steady on your chest
working for the better good, which is good at it's best
and too, bearing witness
like a woman bears a child with all her might
born of the greatest pain into a grand canyon of light

i say no song has gone unsung here
and this joint is strung crazy tight
and people been raising up their voices since it just ain't been right
with all the righteous rage and all the bitter spite
that will accompany us out of this long night
that will grab us by the hand when we are ready to take flight
seat back and tray table in the upright and locked position
i am shocked to tears by each new vision
of all that my ancestors have done
like, say the women who gave their lives so that i could have one
like the people who were standing at ground zero of the feminist
revolution

behold if you please
a patriarchy on it's knees
yes it was an inside job
??? and sly
one we're supposed to forget, and downplay and deny
but i think the time is nothin' if not nigh
to let the truth out
the coolest "f" word ever deserves a fuckin' shout

i mean look around
we have *this*

yes, i love my country
by which i mean i am indebted joyfully
to all the people throughout it's history 
who have fought the government to make right

where so many cunning sons and daughters
our foremothers and forefathers
came signing through slaughter
through hell and high water
so that we could stand here
and behold breathlessly the sight
how a raging river of tears
is cutting the grand canyon of light