Though only three lines, america by Riley Combes perfectly captures a simple, but powerful message for readers to consider. The poem discusses the questionable limits of freedom many minorities are phased with, which is highly relevant to what is happening today. The phrase “supposed freedom” insists that we, as people living in this country, are given this expectation of how America is the land of the free and equal opportunities, while still not having a guaranteed chance of receiving all of this freedom. We are told one thing, yet we struggle to attain what our country is known for (some of course with more struggles). For example, black people have been the target of police brutality for several years now. The fact that we have a whole population of people fearing the people who are supposed to keep us safe is a restriction to live and thrive in a country that promotes individuality and the idea of liberty.

   As you can see, this poem quickly results in the reader thinking and exploring past what Riley has written. It has pushed me to think about how much freedom everyone really has if you aren’t white, male, straight, cis, or Christian. While I understood this before, the poem continued this train of thought. Thus, I would definitely like to thank Riley for doing so through this poem.