We Claimed It First | Teen Ink

We Claimed It First

January 20, 2011
By MelissaCaccamo SILVER, Burlington, Other
MelissaCaccamo SILVER, Burlington, Other
7 articles 0 photos 1 comment

This country was first freely founded upon the Wild Wild West.
Us farmers live life apart from all the rest,
We eat from the Earth that was here before us "hicks"
We feed off the animals that came without your politics.
And now you're going to try to run us off the land we claimed?
WE CLAIMED IT FIRST.
Our country shanty and lean-to barn are the only buildings that will stand on our homestead;
None of your strip-plaza's or housing complexes.
Our horses are the only things that should pull the field plough and the Sunday carriage;
None of your dumbfounded cars that pollute my very breath.
You won't run me off the land my children grow up on.
The country will fight too for the freedom it stands for
I'll run you off my land
I'll pierce you passionately with the pitchfork I hold in my hand,
Because it was our country first.

The author's comments:
This poem is inspired by Grant Wood's painting "American Gothic".
I looked at the painting for a long time and decided that the farmer and his wife looked really unimpressed, and because I know how proud farmers can be of their land and how defensive they are about their territory, it inspired me to write about how land is being stolen for urbanization.

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