Happy Fourth Of July America! Poem by David Whalen

Wanna' know how many lil' kids
Go to bed hungry in the U.SA
Each night?

If I said "over a million"
Would you sleep any
less sound tonight?

And how many of you
Would agree with me
That being a kid can be rough?

Well…over six million American kids
Get either very little food…each day
Or simply not enough.

Feelin' uncomfortable yet? I hope so! ! !
Think about it, when you're chowin' down
This bountiful 4th of July

Foreign aid paid in one year to 150 countries
Including some enemies, is 58 billion, more or less
All paid by you and I

Our roads and bridges need 2.2 trillion dollars
To be repaired and fixed
And brought up to a safe state

And all the while America crumbles
We've spent more than a trillion (not including Libya)
If futile wars in Afghanistan and Iraq… to date

And one other lil' statistic That I carped about before
on the 4th of July a couple years ago
In a little noticed, seemingly inconsequential poem

Has grown to 6440 American boys killed in action
I hate this statistic! ! It's cruel and sadistic! !
And By God… they should have been kept home! ! !

These are numbers and statistics
Too great for comprehension… by
Ordinary people like you and I

But I hope there's someone out there
That I've made a little bit more aware
And… to my complacent, naïve fellow Americans

A bountiful, happy Fourth of July


(To our leaders)