The First American - Paintings by June Marie

If we made a line
Of all the people who ever lived
Across this great North American continent,
Who would be the first American?
Some say the Native American,
Whose ancestors found this land some 13,000 years ago.
And that is true.

But America is a noble idea,
A way of life for humanity,
More than a place to live for any one people.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident,
That all men are created equal,
That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights,
That among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union…
Do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

“We here highly resolve that these dead
Shall not have died in vain,
That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom,
And that government of the people, by the people, for the people,
Shall not perish from the earth.”

Perhaps the men who wrote these words
Should stand at the front of the line,
Men of ambition, men of talent and fortune,
Who nonetheless put their individual gifts on the line
For the common good.
And that is also true.

Still, there are many in line,
Talent and ambition notwithstanding,
Misfortunate from the first.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,
That all…are created equal.”
In our heart of hearts, we know them,
Those who were sublimated to self,
Yet moved with quiet resolve,
Often for the common good.
They have stood at the back of the line.

We the people still strive “to form a more perfect union.”
We still resolve that
“These dead shall not have died in vain.”
To those that have served without receiving,

Let it be said here
That the first must also be last and the last must also be first.
And the Native American must be among them.
And that is always true.

The question now remains,
Who truly is the first American?
Who will now stand at the front of the line?
Will there yet be “a new birth of freedom”
And will “that government of the people, by the people, for the people…
Not perish from the earth?”

The First American

24″ x 36″

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