I am an American.

I am not a Jewish American but for anti-Semites, tribal wranglers, and the boundaries of my own concessions.

I am not a German American, and not a word of it.

I am not a Polish American although I may appreciate the Polish tradition in tea cup and pot design.

*

I am an American who admires and appreciates the world, its myriad cultures, races, and religions but returns always to a pale-to-black nation separated from alliance with any one acknowledged church, life way, or god even though I may acknowledged the presence of an All that becomes the idea of God.

*

I am an American free to watch baseball or porn, to catch the world’s news or none at all, to reflect on my nation’s Constitution — or not worry over it, for it’s a strong thing by itself, and I am free and secure to fall asleep beneath clouds or stars, to read or write as spirit moves, to seek company or seclusion as my self sees fit.

*

I am an American aware of the effects of American Natives, the currents of European history, and the presence of ruthless and sadistic Puritans on the cultural outlines within the spacious boundaries and potentials of the now modern state.

*

I am an American easily, simply, spiritually.

*

I am an American.

My People are Americans.