America, Our Lives Are on the Line

AMERICA, OUR LIVES ARE ON THE LINE
Mikaela Curry

My Country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty
America, of thee I wonder what you mean when you say
Give me your tired, your poor
Because not too tired, not too poor
Because even birth can be a preexisting condition,
any turn of health a devastating imposition
and certain care only available for the price of admission

                  MY COUNTRY, YOUR COUNTRY, THIS COUNTRY
                  AMERICA, OUR LIVES ARE ON THE LINE
                  OF THEE WE PLEAD, FOR THOSE IN NEED

America, of thee we sing –
songs of grief and worry, songs of sickness and debt
songs to Lady Liberty, I wonder would she have wept?
For the cause of her people, for care for you and me

She said, give me your huddled masses yearning to breathe free
But what if they needed help, what if breathing wasn’t free?
Would the treatment be too costly, would they fall through the cracks?
Would the weight of their own sickness be born upon their backs?

People talk of taxes, people talk of jobs, people talk of people as though they are to blame
for getting sick, for being poor, for needing help – the shame!

But this is not the way that it always has to be
There are enough resources to care for you and me

                  MY COUNTRY, YOUR COUNTRY, THIS COUNTRY
                  AMERICA, OUR LIVES ARE ON THE LINE
                  OF THEE WE PLEAD, FOR THOSE IN NEED

Land where my fathers died
where generations have tried—to construct a system
worthy of that pilgrim’s pride
and of failings we know that there haven’t been few
There are problems and gaps, but victories too –
Let us not halt progress for political views

But, more let us see that those who do suffer
are never the nameless, but always our brother
and sisters and children without clean water to drink
Death slowly dripping from their own kitchen sink
Don’t forget or ignore it, or go on your way
because this isn’t all happening in a place far away:

                  MY COUNTRY, YOUR COUNTRY, THIS COUNTRY
                  AMERICA, OUR LIVES ARE ON THE LINE
                  OF THEE WE PLEAD, FOR THOSE IN NEED

For basic human rights, for basic human care
For compassion over profits, for people everywhere
For higher care, for lower costs, for not letting the people find themselves lost

Because it’s always the poor who pay the cost first
and it’s always the poor who are treated the worst

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me
Oh America, land that loves to call itself free,
while its people are dying and shackled in debt
healthcare held hostage - our lives pay the threat

People do not have to die cause they’re poor
Together we stand up and we stand up for more:

                  MY COUNTRY, YOUR COUNTRY, THIS COUNTRY
                  AMERICA, OUR LIVES ARE ON THE LINE
                  OF THEE WE PLEAD, FOR THOSE IN NEED

From every stretch of highway, to the mountains and the sea –
let our voices rise, with strength and dignity,
Singing songs of truth that we are not alone,
and sometimes we need healing for all this flesh and bone

Healthcare for all people, let us stand to fight -
Let us clearly see the need for this basic human right!