This poem was posted to the Cato Institute blog, and it struck a chord with me. I thought I’d repost it here since I don’t have the energy to write a new post of my own right now. 
—–
And I ask you
Speak to me of freedom? You know not what it means
but take its name and shackle those with whom you disagree
You wave a flag of righteousness; you bellow and you scream
That those who are not as you are they never should have been
Speak to me of god and tell me what he thinks
of bigotry and hatred for the love each person makes
A fellowship, a flock for which you try to build a wall
The blackest sheep is slaughtered as an offering to them all
Speak to me of love and tell me what it takes
to make a love and test it true, the arrow to be straight
One path is true one path is tried one path we will allow
Two people bound in heart and mind but cannot give a vow
Speak to me of law and tell me what is just
a chance for those with tyrant tendencies to run amok
A forum for the many to oppress a hapless few
Virginia is for lovers, but there’s no room here for you.
Nathan Revere (Nov. 2006).
Filed under: Philosophy, Politics
… Nice poem… most likely struck the same chord with me as well… kudus on your find.
[...] around wordpress… Ill paste the poem here but heres the orginal link. I found it on “Bill’s Blog”. I hope it strikes you the same way it did [...]
A well written poem, but I’m curious as to its meaning. The author’s parent submitted to Cato. The young author and his girl friend was being escorted home for the weekend. In that context, one might assume it was about he and his girl friend wanting to get married, but I wonder. Maybe its meaning is merely regurgitation of PC message about gays, their reverse psychology against moralists, and their opposition against nature.
Given the timeframe and its mention of Virginia, my guess would be it’s a reference to Virginia’s constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Of course, it was also posted about six months prior to the 40th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court decision that struck down Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage, so perhaps the author was drawing a parallel between the two. Virginia actually forcibly sterilized people in the 1920′s if they weren’t considered mentally fit to have children – a measure which was, predictably, distorted by bureaucrats for their own reasons. Perhaps the author was considering all of these factors.
you may just take it “as-is”. for me I could feel a humanitarian point of view.
acceptance of “the other” ..
the relative meaning of freedom ..
the role god gave us in the world ..
just a thought ..