Page:Poems, Alan Seeger, 1916.djvu/212



You have the grit and the guts, I know;

You are ready to answer blow for blow

You are virile, combative, stubborn, hard,

But your honor ends with your own back-yard;

Each man intent on his private goal,

You have no feeling for the whole;

What singly none would tolerate

You let unpunished hit the state,

Unmindful that each man must share

The stain he lets his country wear,

And (what no traveller ignores)

That her good name is often yours.

You are proud in the pride that feels its might;

From your imaginary height

Men of another race or hue

Are men of a lesser breed to you:

The neighbor at your southern gate

You treat with the scorn that has bred his hate.

To lend a spice to your disrespect

You call him the "greaser," But reflect!

The greaser has spat on you more than once;

He has handed you multiple affronts;

He has robbed you, banished you, burned and killed;

He has gone untrounced for the blood he spilled;

He has jeering used for his bootblack's rag

The stars and stripes of the gringo's flag; 162