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My country, sweetest home I’ve come to know,
Your wings have sheltered me, a foreigner.
I came to you a migrant as a boy,
Without the blessing of your government.
But still you loved me, educated me,
Prepared me for the tasks I bear today.
America, I praise your bravery.
America, I praise your liberty.
Your generosity is sought by all.
I may not ever be a citizen,
And Providence may take me from your nest,
But I’ll remain the son of fifty stars,
Forever singing of my sweetest home.
America, I sing this song for you.
Your creed is like the highest peak on earth;
It points above and looks upon the land.
Your people drink the water from its springs,
Then come to know the depths of its ideals.
Your history is mighty for your age,
Matured by sacrifices made in war.
At times, a violent fire scorched your wings,
Old glory’s seams were torn before the world,
And rain fell from the eyes of everyone.
But honor raised your head, like hopeful dawn.
You struck your enemies decisively
And cast away from sight their hopeless plans.
You aid the poor, you shield the vulnerable.
The persecuted seek your wings for shade.
My country, I could sing of your success
Until my throat is drained of melodies.
The virtue gained in praising you is great,
Especially today when lies run deep,
And some among us turn away from you.
America, I praise your bravery.
America, I praise your liberty.
Your generosity is sought by all.
You multiply my opportunities,
Protect my choice in politics and faith,
And ease my burdens as a guardian.
This is your semiquincentennial,
And I, your son, a foreigner, must rise.
May Heaven make your years surpass the stars.
Miguel Moreno is a TV producer and news writer in New York City.
Very nicely done blank verse: musical and full of authentic gratitude! So beautiful, and well crafted (for example, that feminine ending for the second line, the return of those three line in the first stanza in the middle of the third.)
Miguel, I would love to hear the story of the man behind this blank verse hymn of praise for America. We are, of course, a national tapestry of many and varied stories which form the threads woven into a beauty beyond that of any other place in the world—“the land of the free and the home of the brave.” I suspect that you and your family represent both. Even so, as “America the Beautiful” puts it, despite our “every flaw,” our “liberty” is “confirmed” in “law.” Despite the fact that (as Dickens wrote) the very law that preserves our freedom can sometimes be an ass.
Last night, while watching massive private firework displays on the Pacific Ocean beach near my house, I met a 60-year-old recent immigrant woman from Kamchatka, Russia. After learning that I had visited Russia when it was still the USSR, she kissed me on the cheek and, with halting English and tears in her eyes, she said, “God bless the United States of America.”
Her words, joined with yours, have, for me, framed this year’s 4th of July like a patriotic painting hanging in our National Gallery! Thank you for sharing your inspiring words.
I loved reading this. It expresses a heartfelt love and admiration that few native-born Americans ever express. I am married to an immigrant and I see that same love in her and my in-laws. The love is chosen. Thank you for your perspective.
Adam is right about a number of things, especially about how hard it is for native-borns to express such sentiments. My own family sometimes complains that I am not sufficiently expressive when it comes to my feelings about them, and I hesitate to chalk that up to independence. Anyway, this poem is both plangent and trenchant at the same time.
Miguel, you’ve sung an affectionate and resplendent personal anthem to stir the hearts of a nation. It carries observant touches of a newswriter’s acumen. Good use of strategically placed refrain lines.