Lift Up

You may rise up
Out of the belly of the beast
Black and blinking,
Like newborns from the womb.

Lift up your heads
To a life of want and struggle,
To never have as much as you need,
To babies coughing and wife crying.

Rise up to the American Dream.
Did it slip through your fingers
Or was it never close enough to grab?
You were born in this beautiful land.

Lift up your heads
Just like everyone you know
Living their life in the mine
Shoveling coal.

                 --Aimee Nance