Thelma N. Shutters

A PATRIOT

Can I not be
Against a war
I feel in my heart is unjust?

To be a Patriot
Must I agree
With those who believed
In their heart and soul
It was right to go to war?

To be a Patriot
Should I give
My support to those leaders
That I feel
Went into war
For only political reasons?

To be a Patriot
Do we not
Have a duty to speak
Against everything we believe
Is wrong
When our soldiers’
Lives are at stake?

To be a Patriot
I watched
I cried
My heart broke
As many people died
On 9-11-2001

Am I not a Patriot?