American Gods | Charley Mintz

One nation, under God...

Which one?

There are men upon men

to choose your prayers from

Do you refer to Gatsby?

That great American God

a manifestation of the nouveau riche

the common men applaud

“Pull yourself up by your bootstraps”

Listen to them crow

as they count their family dollars

as we stare from down below

Or perhaps your faith is found

in that Titan from the Midwest

Paul Bunyan, pillar of strength

from him, our trust is wrest

“Give us your labor” companies demand

As the people work night and day

working for pennies and for dimes

as hundreds of dollars they pay

Perhaps you pray to Jesus

though we don’t remember who

He was from Texas, right?

or Oklahoma, Georgia, too

“Love thy neighbor” some say he said

We can’t believe their claims

Jesus loved the white and wealthy

so say churches and their aims

Perhaps you speak of Columbia

from that painting still shown in schools

Manifest Destiny, pushing the bounds

of limits, structures, rules

Pushing their way into the land

others made their home

Then claiming it as theirs, they said

for only them to roam

Or pray to Lady Liberty

though not as she’s known now

Pray to the concept, or to the thought

of freedom, life, renown

Pray to the statue who heralded change

a new beginning to be found

Ignore the treatment they were given

when they stepped upon the ground

So which God fills your thoughts

when to the flag you pray?

Which of these ideals do you

hold steadfast and obey?

Ignoring our hypocrisy

in the paradigms we wrought

For one nation, under God...

is the phrase we all were taught

---

Charley Mintz is a political science major at UAlbany, which tends to seep into their writing. They enjoy reading, spending time with their cats, and shaking trees so snow lands on their sister.