On Being a Patriot

You don’t have to wave your country’s flag;

Nor do you have to boast and brag

That yours is the best country on earth—

Whether or not it’s the land of your birth—

To be a patriot.

There’s no need to brandish your weapons to show

That you have your rights that you’ll never forgo;

Nor do you have to copy the ones

Who feel the need for an arsenal of guns

To be a patriot.

You don’t have to heed everything you are told,

Fear seeking truths that your leaders withhold,

Or forget that in your laws there’s a reason

That public dissent’s not the same thing as treason

To be a patriot.

You don’t have to feel that the government is right

To force young men and women to fight

In wars that profit the War Machine--

And which you in your heart know are obscene--

To be a patriot.

There’s no need to always bewail and prate

On the separation of church and state

Or let the troublemakers upset you

By saying the government’s out to get you

To prove you’re a patriot.

But caring about the poor and the needy;

Wanting to have, without being greedy;

Feeling concern for the rights of ALL;

And helping others up when they fall:

That's being a patriot!