July 4, 2022

Firecrackers popping in the wee hours, till dawn

Make it seem everyone is celebrating something.

It might have been true 246 years ago

When most were glad the British had to leave.

Maybe even 210 years ago, when they left again.

Or 176 years ago, when “gringos” marched in Mexico

After taking over Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado.

Not everyone celebrated then.

Lately not everyone celebrates the sound of gunfire.

Not everyone celebrated the same way 157 years ago

Following the Union victory. Some were glad for the victory,

But some celebrated Lincoln’s assassination.

Some cheered two years ago when George Floyd was choked to death.

Others ten years ago when Trayvon Martin was shot.

Now many shed tears nearly every day when police kill Black people.

We don’t celebrate together so much anymore.

It stopped in Vietnam, and Iraq, and Afghanistan,

Now some celebrate Supreme Court decisions

Allowing people to carry assault weapons in public,

Or forbidding people to end unwanted pregnancies,

Or stopping the fossil fuel companies from fouling the planet.

But not everyone is celebrating.