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American Revolution

By Michael B., Hingham, MA

Over the hills and halls of Mount Vernon

I heard voices that cried,

"No taxation without representation!"

And the Tories who lied.

In the monuments and museums and houses

I saw people who dreamed

In the battlefields of blood and of anger

I saw the British get creamed

I saw brave men who died

And children who cried

I heard calls for freedom to vote

I heard lofty appeals

And men with ideals

I read words that the wisest men wrote

Yet it baffles me now

To understand how

These men died for America and why

It's a nation of thugs

And homewrecking drugs

And poor homeless children who cry

Our forefathers tried

But instead they died

If you look closely, I think you'll find:

A nation of crime

And a nation of death

Was not quite what they had in mind.

This piece has been published in Teen Ink’s monthly print magazine.

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This article has 43 comments. Post your own!

mightierthanthesword said...
Nov. 23, 2011 at 8:48 am:

Amen! I totally agree 100%. This is great writing. It flowed well, however, some of the rhymming seemed a bit forced. But even the rhymming was good. This is well written, and so true!

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william blake said...
Nov. 3, 2011 at 12:46 pm:

please i need more information about the poet short biography

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wiseone said...
Oct. 18, 2011 at 9:47 am:

I completly agree with u its funny how gangs claim streets saying it they'res little do they know that the street they are claiming has been there more than 3 generations ago

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pvclark said...
Sept. 5, 2011 at 12:52 pm:

Your poem is very well written and quite poignant. I am working on a project about poems inspired by the American Revolution and would like to read your poem as part of my presentation. Would that be ok? I am an adult and an education consultant.

homwork replied...
Oct. 11, 2011 at 5:41 pm :

ey i loved it, can i use it for homework haha !

cutielovesmusic replied...
Jan. 18 at 8:11 pm :

haha i was gunna use this for hmwk......im doin a poen nd this gave meh ideas

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TAR11 said...
Jul. 14, 2011 at 5:35 pm:

I like it. Please check out mine. From the Hilltop and Anonymous' Inferno if you get the chance. Thanks!

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WritingGirlKyla14 said...
Jul. 14, 2011 at 10:46 am:

So true! I never thought of it that way! I love it so much!

~K : )

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wannebewriter said...
Jun. 22, 2011 at 9:40 pm:

this is absolutly AMAZING!!! this poem is so true :/ ... keep writing!

1234gunner replied...
Oct. 7, 2011 at 11:00 am :

this is the best one

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msoccerm345 said...
Jun. 22, 2011 at 9:02 pm:

this is amazing! i absolutely love this. i mean normally i am not into history at all, like its my least favorite subject, or at least it was until this year. but anyway this poem is so true though i dont think everyone in america is like that but a lot of people are and i sometimes think that our fore-fathers would be disappointed in how we are acting now. they gave up so much for us that we sometimes take advantage of. this poem did a wonderful job of really bringing that out in words and maki... (more »)

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michaelchavez said...
May 31, 2011 at 9:00 am:

i love this poem it describes america perfectly its all like this in the world but mostly here in the U.S.A. i agree with you

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SwishAndFlick63 said...
Mar. 26, 2011 at 9:32 pm:

It's just an opinion in a poem....

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Potatoes Are Awesome said...
Jan. 19, 2011 at 11:39 am:

I like the way the form of the poem changed. And the message is very true.

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S M Wells said...
Jan. 8, 2011 at 11:48 am:

I take it you are extreamily arigant, impolight and thoughtless. These people have been very grnerous in there prais. And you have faild to give any recignition for there atention. I find that extreamily intolerable. Such selfishness is not likely to help you along your way in life. Nor are people going to like someone so totaly unapriceative. Forgive my poor spelling.

IWillDream54 replied...
May 5, 2011 at 2:41 pm :

Really? I agree that those people were amazing and brave and wonderful and we wouldn't be here without them, but I absolutely love this poem. I think it almost GIVES these people respect by saying that they fought so hard for our country and we aren't thanking them properly the way it turned out. I loved this poem, I thought it was amazingly well written and awesome.

Keep Writing!!!

IWillDream54 replied...
May 5, 2011 at 2:43 pm :

Woops, sorry.. That was supposed to be a regular comment, not a response.. :)

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nicoleintheskywithdiamonds said...
Nov. 14, 2010 at 8:24 pm:

this is clever and you prove a great point! i wasn't expecting the shift in tone...realllly greaat :)

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Still_Waters26 said...
Oct. 1, 2010 at 9:22 pm:

true, very true...American's morality is slipping, I can hear our forefathers banging on the lids of their graves. i like the british, though :).

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mimirocks124 said...
Sept. 9, 2010 at 4:52 pm:

very clever. i relly liked it

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inspir3d said...
Aug. 18, 2010 at 8:54 pm:

good rhythem, great meaning. but dreamed-creamed? really?

better no rhyme than a forced rhyme. But i liked the poem, nice work!

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Jellybean9898 said...
Jul. 5, 2010 at 3:07 pm:

omg this is so true. i love it! so deep, such strong meaning! omg, keep it up that was brilliant

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jkcoolz said...
May 22, 2010 at 8:38 pm:

very strong meaning

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*StandardToaster* said...
May 22, 2010 at 2:41 pm:

wow. so powerful and true. i love it. check out my work?

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BeautyFromPain said...
Apr. 30, 2010 at 6:38 pm:

So incredibly truthful. Sad, so very sad, that they fought for what? The drugs, the disobedience, the unjustice...

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Eric D. said...
Apr. 30, 2010 at 9:29 am:

good poem. And truthful

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spitfire213 said...
Apr. 8, 2010 at 8:29 pm:

could not be truer. im glad someone has a grasp on the world we live in.

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dominicana said...
Apr. 8, 2010 at 8:22 pm:

i love this poem its amazing

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Eilatan said...
Apr. 8, 2010 at 6:49 pm:

INCREDIBLE.

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emilyanne said...
Apr. 8, 2010 at 3:58 pm:

wow.. this is deep. nicely put. good job.

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ZAVERY said...
Apr. 4, 2010 at 2:23 pm:

Oh... 0_0 Those are alot of exclamation marks... Sorry. :C

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ZAVERY said...
Apr. 4, 2010 at 2:23 pm:

This is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... (more »)

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mushroomhugger101 said...
Feb. 23, 2010 at 2:40 pm:

wow so true and so nicely written

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kimmycakes said...
Jan. 10, 2010 at 10:58 pm:

omg this is really good...i can basically see why he wrote it it was good!!

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PurpleMidnight said...
Nov. 27, 2009 at 1:43 pm:

This is awesome! I wish everyone, especially congress, had a chance to read this. It's tremendous! Thank you for voicing what so many of us think

Sally replied...
Nov. 30, 2009 at 5:46 pm :

ok this makes no sence

Sabe88 replied...
Dec. 8, 2009 at 12:26 pm :

This poem mentions the bad things of America. Why did you not feel the need to include those. This poem, to me, says that you are not happy with America and that you are a pessimist. If you are this set against America, you should try to fix it full-roundedly or get out of this 'nation of crime and thugs'!!!

mwatt12 replied...
Dec. 19, 2009 at 7:10 pm :

It's not about everything that is bad with America, not from my perspecitve. I saw it as being about the deterioration of our society from what our Founding Fathers intended. I thought it was amazing and I completely agree with the poet. Epic win.

Shambler92 replied...
Jan. 10, 2010 at 12:12 pm :

America unveiled. loved the final stanza, short but a punch to the face. http ://teenink .com /opinion/current_events_politics/article/157625/MY-GENERATION-The-New-Youth-The-Building-of-a-New-World/

Shambler92 replied...
Jan. 10, 2010 at 12:14 pm :

amazing man, America Unveiled. love the final stanza, short and a punch to the face. i wrote an article about this subject too.

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JohnnyBravo said...
May 7, 2009 at 1:42 am:

WOW!!! AWESOMEEEEEEEEEE

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darrl4 said...
Feb. 19, 2009 at 2:09 am:

that was aswome

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Novee Shanee Orcajada said...
Jan. 6, 2009 at 6:37 pm:

cool yo!

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