Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Nikki Giovanni: VOTE

 VOTE

It’s not a hug, or a toy at Christmas
It’s not a colored egg at Easter
Or a bunny hopping across the meadow
It’s a vote, saying you are a citizen
Though sometimes it is traveling and sometimes a no.
It can be male of female
It can be right or left
I can disagree
But I am a citizen
I should be able to vote from prison
I should be able to vote from the battlefield
I should be able to vote when I get my driver’s license
I should be able to vote when can I purchase a gun
When I’m in the hospital
Or the old folk’s home
Or if I need a ride to the polling place
I am a citizen
I must be able to vote.
Folks were lynched
Folks were shot.
Folks communities were gerrymander
Folks who believed in the Constitution were lied to
Burned out, bought and sold because
They agreed that all men and women were created equal.
Folks vote to make us free
It’s not cookies or cake
But it is icing that is so sweet
Good for us, my country tis of thee.

Nikki Giovanni
 

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