How can we atone - v2

How can we atone
for our past, our corporate failures
real injustice promulgated
for countless generations;
a curse, a disease, this legacy
upon our people, this nation
from our very beginnings
a divide, our original sin.

How can we atone
now, in this moment,
needing to change, to transform,
to repent of our sins;
but we stand divided, separate camps
not seeing one path forward
a way through this valley
this gulf we have created.

How can we atone
how can we come together
so much to do, to change,
wrongs to be righted;
so much of our dream of America
the words needing meaning
to achieve our destiny
as individuals, as a people.

How can we atone
with so many voices
so much pain, injustice,
over so many generations;
we must start now, this instant,
in this time, in this moment;
America can be much better
than our history.

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edited July 14, 2020
How can we atone - v2

July 14, 2020
How can we atone

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poem, poetry, America, Declaration of Independence, prejudice, injustice,slavery, sin, colonization, genocide, eugenics, sterilization, institutionalization, racism, sexism, misogyny, Confederacy, Black Lives Matter, unalienable rights, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, franchise, right to vote, ignorance, cruelty, oppression, Hamilton, Jefferson, Washington, Lincoln, Obama, Trump, Biden, Lewis, King Jr, compromise, complicity, corruption, hate, anger, God,

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